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CAUSES  OF  THE  VARIETY 

OF 

COMPLEXION  AND  FIGURE 

IN    THE 

HUMAN  SPECIES. 

TO    WHICi:    ARE    ADCEDy 

Animadversions  on  cei'tain  Remarks  made  on  the  first  edition 

of  this  Essay,  by  Mr.  Charles  White,  in  a  series  of 

Discourses  delivered  before  the  Literary  and 

Philosophical  Society  of  Manchester 

in  England. 

ALSO, 

Strictures  on  Lord  Kaims'  Discourse  on  the  Original 
Diversity  o^  Mankind. 

AND 

AN  APPENDIX, 

y 

BY  SAMUEL  STANHOPE  SMITH,  D.D.  L  L.D. 

President  of  the  College  of  New-Jersey  ;  and  Member 
of  the  Americaji  Philosophical  Society. 

THE    SECOND    EDITION. ...ENLARGED    AND    IMFHOVRD, 


J^E  W-BR  UJ\rS  WICK: 

PUBLISHED    BY    J.  SIMPSON  AND  CO. 
AND    WILLIAMS  AND  WHITING,    NEW-YORK, 

£.  DEAUBy  firinter. 
1810. 


District  of  New-Jersey,  ss. 

Be  it  remembered,  that  on  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  No* 
vember,  in  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  the  Independence  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  Josiah  Simpson  and  Churchill 
Houston  of  the  said  disti'ict,  have  deposited  in  this  ofiice  the 
title  of  a  book,  the  right  whereof  they  claim  as  proprietors,  in 
the  words  following,  to  wit,  "  An  Essay  on  the  Causes  of  the 
Variety  of  Complexion  and  Figure  in  the  Human  Species.  To 
which  are  added,  Animadversions  on  certain  remarks  made  on 
the  first  edition  of  this  Essay,  by  Mr.  Chiirles  White,  in  a  se- 
ries of  Discourses  delivered  before  the  Literary  and  Philoso- 
phical Society  of  Manchester  in  England.  Also,  Strictures  on 
Lord  Kaims'  Discourse  on  the  Original  Diversity  of  Mankind. 
And  an  Appendix.  By  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  D.D.  L.L.D. 
President  of  the  College  of  New-Jersey  ;  and  INIcmber  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society.  The  second  edition — En- 
larged and  improved."  In  confoi  nAtjr  tr.  the  act  of  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States,  entitled,  an  act  for  the  cncoxirage- 
ment  of  leurnmg,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and 
books  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the 
times  therein  mentioned  ;  and  also  to  tlie  act,  entitled,  an  act, 
supplementary  to  an  act,  entitled  an  act  for  the  encouragement 
of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books 
to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies  during  the  times 
therein  mentioned,  and  extending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the 
arts  of  designing,  engraving,  and  etching  historical  and  other 
prints.  Robert  Boggs,  Clk.  of  the 

District  of  New-Jersey. 


To  the  American  Philosophical  Society  held  in  Phi- 
ladelphia, for  promoting  Useful  Knowledge. 

Gentlemen, 

Jl  he  substance  of  the  following  Essay  wtis,  in  consequence 
of  a  duty  devolved  by  you  upon  the  Author,  pronounced  in  the 
form  of  an  oration,  before  your  very  respectable  body  on  the 
27th  of  February  in  the  year  1787.  As  you  were  pleased  to 
express  your  satisfaction  with  it,  and  it  has  been  received  with 
a  considerable  j>ortion  of  public  favour  both  in  America  and 
Europe,  I  have  been  encouraged,  in  the  midst  of  my  other  nu- 
merous and  indispensable  avocations,  to  turn  my  attention  late- 
ly to  enlarge  <ind  improve  it.  It  comes,  therefore,  in  its  new 
form,  to  pay  its  homage  to  you  to  whom  it  owes  its  existence  ; 
and,  if  it  should  again  be  found  worthy  of  your  approbation,  to 
solicit  your  patronage. 

I  am,  Gentlemen,  with  the  profoundest  respect  for  you 
individually,  and  as  a  society  devoted  to  promote  tlie  interests 
of  Philosophical  Science  in  this  new  world. 
Your  most  obedient, 

and  most  humble  servant, 

SAMUEL  STANHOPE  SMITH 


^bbcrti^mitnt. 


./SlLTHOUGH  the  following  essay  may  seem,  at  first  view, 
to  propose  notlung  to  itself  but  to  amuse  the  public  with  a  phi- 
losophical speculation ;  yet  as  its  object  is  to  establish  tlie  unity 
of  che  human  species,  by  tracing  its  varieties  to  their  natural 
ciauses,  it  has  an  obvious  and  intimate  relation  with  religion,  by 
bringing  in  science  to  confii*m  the  verity  of  the  Mosjuc  history. 
It  has  lately  become  a  kind  of  cant  with  cert^  superficial  smat  - 
terers  in  physical  science  to  speak  of  revealed  religion,  and  of 
the  spirit  of  piety  as  being  hostile  to  profound  researches  into 
nature,  lest  they  should  be  found  to  contradict  the  dogmas  of 
revelation.  We  see  these  men,  likewise,  witli  equal  igno- 
raiice  and  vanity,  contemptuously  insinuate  that  the  friends  of 
piety  are  always  ready  to  rest  their  opinions,  not  on  well  as- 
certained facts,  but  on  the  supposed  authority  of  Heaven,  to 
^ve  them  the  pains,  and  the  hazard  of  enquiries  so  dangerous 
to  contented  superstition.  These  seif'dubbed  naturalists,  vain 
of  their  own  faint  shadow  of  knowledge,  because  they  know  so 
little,  seem  to  have  forgotten  the  existence  of  such  men  as 
Newtora,  or  Boyle,  Bacon  or  Mede,  and  a  thousand  others, 
equally  disti^iguished  for  the  depth  of  their  enquiries  into  the 
mystevies  of  nature,  and  for  tlieir  sublime  and  fervent  piety  to- 
wiivds  its  Author.  Genuine  philosophy  has  ever  been  found 
the  friend  of  true  rcligiou.     They  are  only  spurious  pretenpes 


to  science  which  have  wantonly  arrayed  themselves  against  the 
holy  scriptures.  In  a  question  of  that  nature  which  is  discuss- 
ed in  the  following  essay,  I  would  be  far  from  introducing  the 
authority  of  religion  to  silence  enquiry,  and  equally  far  would 
I  be  from  making  it  a  substitute  for  proof.  I  appeal  to  the 
evidence  of  facts,  and  to  conclusions  resulting  from  these  facts 
which  I  trust  eveiy  genuine  disciple  of  nature  will  acknowledge 
to  be  legitimately  dra^vn  from  her  own  fountain. 

If  any  person  should  enquire  why  a  writer  who  has  so  many 
other  duties  to  fulfil  more  immediately  relative  to  the  sacre4 
functions  of  his  profession,  should  devote  so  much  time  to 
studies  which  seem  to  be  only  remotely  connected  with  thp 
offices  of  piety  peculiarly  belonging  to  a  christian  minister,  I 
hope  it  will  be  a  satisfactory  answer;  that  infidelity,  driveii 
from  all  her  moral  grounds  of  objection  agtanst  the  gospel, 
has  lately  bent  her  principal  force  to  oppose  the  system  of  na- 
ture to  that  of  revelation.  From  Natural  Science,  which  has 
been  cultivated  with  more  than  common  ardor  and  success  in 
the  present  age,  she  now  forms  her  chief  attacks  against  th© 
doctrines,  and  the  history  of  religion.  And  on  this  quarter 
she  has  pressed  them  with  the  greatest  zeal.  While  otliers, 
therefore,  are  successfully  defending  the  interior  fortresses  of 
religion,  and  extending  her  practical  sway  over  the  hearts  of 
men,  I  thought  that  I  might  render  a  valuable  service  to  the 
cause,  by  cooperating,  in  some  degree,  with  those  who  are  de- 
fending her  outwoi-ks,  and  cariying  their  attacks  into  the  ene- 
my's eamp.  I  have  taken  one  point  of  defence,  which  was 
thought  to  be  peculiarly  vulnerable.  And  though  certuiu 
artists  n^ay  feel  bdignant,  that  a  writer,  whose  pursuits  are 


naturally  supposed  to  be  so  Widely  different  from  theirs,  should 
invade  them  in  tlieir  own  department,  yet  I  hope  the  issue  of 
the  t;onflict  will  shew  that  religion  has  been  able  to  repel  one 
more  assault,  if  she  should  not,  in  this  instance  obtain,  a 
decided  victory. 

This  essay  was  first  published  in  the  year  1787.  And 
although  various  writers  had,  at  different  times,  treated  on  the 
same  subject,  it  was  esteemed  by  many  ingenious  and  learned 
men  not  to  be  a  superfluous  addition  to  the  disquisition  s  Avhich 
had  already  appeared.—- Jerome  Berioit  Feijoo,  a  Spanish  Bene- 
dictin,  of  whom  the  editors  of  the  Theatro  Critico,*  as  well  as 
the  authors  of  the  Modern  Universal  History,!  h^ve  pronounc- 
ed the  highest  eulogies,  as  not  being  inferior  to  Cervantes  in 
genius,  and  in  tlie  useful  labor  of  destroying  the  prejudices  of 
his  countrymen,  had  entered  on  the  question  to  considerable 
extent,  and  made  inany  valuable  and  scientific  observations  on 
the  influence  of  climate.  He  has  not,  however,  carried  his 
principles  on  that  subject  so  far  as  is  done  in  the  essay  ;  many 
important  considerations  he  has  omitted ;  and  the  effects  re- 
sulting from  the  state  of  society  he  has  scarcely  touched. 

Dr.  BlumcnlDach,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  naturalists, 
anatomists,  and  physicians  of  Germany,  published  in  the  year 
3  795,  at  Gottingcix,  the  third  edition,  the  only  one  which  I 
have  seen,  of  his  famous  treatise,  De  g-eneris  humani  varietate 

*  Published  in  Vols.  14.  Ann.  1742,  Berioit  Feijoo  died 
in  1765. 

t    Vol.  9.    p.  611. 


7 

tia'ttva.  Of  this  work  I  could  consequently  make  no  use  m 
my  fivst  edition.  I  believe  it  had  not  then  come  to  the  public  eye. 
But  I  am  happy  to  find  that  the  ideas  of  this  learned  writer  on 
the  subject  of  climate.,  and,  particularly,  on  the  effect  of  the 
bilious  secretion  on  the  colour  of  the  skin.,  have  so  nearly 
coiTespondcd  with  those  which  I  had  previously  adopted. 
And  I  have  not  tliought  it  improper,  in  the  present  edition,  to 
avail  myself  of  several  elucidations  of  my  subject  from  this 
valuable  treatise.  But  I  have  to  observe  that  he,  like  Fcijoo, 
has  almost  wholly  omitted  the  second  topic  which  Ihave  endeav- 
oured to  illustrate,  the  infuence  of  the  state  of  society  in  mul- 
tijilying  the  varieties  of  mankind.,  which  in  this  essay  occu- 
pies so  prominent  a  place. 

A  short  treatise  also  of  the  celebrated  Camper's  upon  thi» 
subject  was  published  at  Utrecht  by  his  son  in  1791.  But  it  i* 
formed  on  a  plan,  not  contradictory  indeed  to  that  which  I  have 
adopted,  but  so  different  from  it  in  its  object,  and  the  motle  o? 
conducting  it  that,  if  it  had  been  published  much  earlier,  Ii- 
could  have  derived  little  aid  from  it.  After  a  few  general  re- 
marks at  the  beginning,  the  remainder  of  his  ingenious  disserta- 
tion, which,  however,  is  combatted,  in  some  of  its  most  im- 
portant principles,  by  Blumenbach,  is  calculated  rather  fov 
pointers  than  for  tlie  great  body  of  even  sensible,  and  well  in- 
formed readers. 

To  the  former  edition  I  annexed  some  strictures  on  Lord' 
Kaims'  dissertation  on  the  original  diversity  of  mankind. 
Besides  these,  which  I  have  thought  proper  to  retain  ia  the 
present,  I  have  added  some  anitnadversions  on  certain  remarks 
fnade  on  that  edition,  and  on  the  general    subject,  by  Mr. 


Charles  White,  in  a  series  of  discourses  delivered  by  him  be* 
fore  the  literary  and  philosophical  society  of  Manchester  in 
England ;  and  published  in  London  in  Quarto  in  1799. 

The  whole  I  now  commit  to  the  judgment  and  candor  of  the 
literary  and  philosophic  world. 

S.  S.  SMITH, 


ESSAY, 


ON  THE  VARIETY  OF  COMPLEXION,  FIGURE,  ijfc 
IN  THE  HUMAN  SPECIES. 

1  HE  unity  of  the  human  race,  notwithstanding  the 
diversity  of  colour,  and  form  under  which  it  appears 
in  different  portions  of  the  globe,  is  a  doctrine,  in- 
dependently of  the  authority  of  divine  revelation, 
much  more  consistent  with  the  principles  of  sound 
philosophy,  than  any  of  those  numerous  hypotheses 
which  have  referred  its  varieties  to  a  radical  and  ori- 
ginal diversity  of  species,  adapted  by  the  Creator,  or 
by  the  necessary  laws  of  the  material  world,  to  the 
respective  climates  which  they  were  destined  to  in- 
habit. As  there  are  several  species  of  animals  which 
seem  to  be  confined  by  the  physical  laws  of  their 
constitution  to  a  limited  range  of  climate,  and  which 
either  cannot  exist,  or  do  not  attain  the  perfection  of 
their  nature,   in  regions  either  much  farther  to  the 

B 


10 

North  or  to  the  South  than  those  in  which  the  Crea- 
tor has  planted  them,  superficial  observers  have  been 
ready  to  conclude,  from  analogy,  that  different  spe- 
cies of  the  human  kind  must  have  been  originally 
circumscribed,  by  the  forming  hand  of  nature,  within 
certain  dimatical  limits,  in  which  she  has  placed 
them,  whence  have  sprung  those  varieties  in  exter- 
nal aspect,  and  in  mental  endowments,  which  distin- 
guish the  respective  tribes  of  men  from  one  another. 
But  in  contradiction  to  this  principle,  experience  de- 
monstrates that  man  is  not  exclusively  confined  in 
his  range  to  any  definite  lines  upon  the  earth.     Al- 
though the  fineness  of  texture,  and  delicacy  of  or- 
ganization  of  the  human  constitution,  renders  it  ex- 
tremely susceptible  of  the  impressions  of  climate,  as 
well  as  of  all  other  causes  which  act  upon  the  animal 
frame,  its  peculiar  flexibility,  at  the  same  time,  ena- 
bles it  to  adapt  itself  with  wonderful  facility,  and  with- 
out  materially  injuring  the  organs  of  life,   to  every 
degree  of  temperature  from  the  extreme  heats  of  the 
torrid,  to  the  perpetual  rigors  of  the  frozen  zone. 
We  see  commerce  and  war,  ambition  and  avarice, 
transfer  the  same  people  to  every  clime  upon  the 
globe  ;  and  the  American  and  European  sailor  re^ 
side  equally  at  the  pole,    and   under  the    equator. 


11 

While  the  spirit  of  fanaticism  carries  the  sun- burnt 
Saracien  to  the  North,  the  love  of  war,  and  of  pkuider 
transplants  the  Tartar  from  the  snows  of  Scythia  to 
the  burning  plains  of  India. — Why  then  should  we, 
without  necessity,  assume  the  hypothesis  that  origi- 
nally there  existed  different  species  of  the  human 
kind  ?  And  not  only  without  necessity,  but  contrary 
to  the  principles  of  true  philosophy,  since  all  its  vari- 
eties may  be  accounted  for,  which  I  hope  to  demon- 
strate in  the  course  of  this  essay,  by  the  known  ope- 
ration  of  natural  causes. 

Different  species  must  be  subject  to  different  laws 
both  in  the  physical  and  moral  constitution  of  their 
nature.  The  whole  philosophy  of  man,  therefore,  is 
confounded  by  that  hypothesis  which  divides  the  kind 
into  various  species^  radically  different  from  one  ano- 
ther. The  laws  of  morals  designed  to  regulate  the 
mutual  intercourse  of  mankind,  we  derive  from  ex- 
amining our  own  nature,  or  collecting  the  com- 
mon sentiments  of  men  in  society,  united  together 
by  a  common  system  of  feelings  and  ideas.  But 
how  shall  we  apply  rules,  derived  from  these  sour- 
ces, to  different  nations,  and  to  different  individuals 
whose  moral  principles,  resulting,  in  like  manner, 
from  the  constitution  of  their  natures,  respective- 


12 

ly,  may  be  as  various  as  their  several  aspects.     Can 
they,  indeed,  be  universally  applied  to  fix  an  inva- 
riable moral  code  even  for  the  same  nation  in  differ- 
ent ages,  after  conquest,  or  commerce  may  have  pro- 
duced among  them  the  most  complicated  mixture  of 
species?  Farieties  may  be  created  in  the  same  species 
either  in  the  animal  or  vegetable  kingdom,  by  vary- 
ing their  culture,  and,   sometimes,   by  transferring 
them  to  a  different  soil,  or  climate ;  but  to  all  these 
varieties,  where  there  is  no  radical  diversity  of  kindy 
the  same  general  laws  will  still  apply.     To  man,  in 
like  manner,  may  be  applied  the  same  general  prin- 
ciples of  moral  and  physical  action,  if  it  be  ascer- 
tained that  all  their  differences  indicate  only  one  ori- 
ginal species.    But,  destroy  this  unity,  and  no  certain 
and  universal  principles  of  human  nature  remain. 
We  have  no  general  and  infallible  standard  by  which 
to  judge  of  the  moral  ideas  and  habits  of  different 
nations,  or  even  of  different  men. — Besides,  if  human 
nature  actually  embraces  different  species  of  men,  by 
what  criterion  shall  we  distinguish  them  ?    What  is 
their  number  ?     Where  do  they  now  exist  pure  and 
unmixed  ? — 

Philosophers  have  never  been  able  to  give  to  these 
questions  such  precise  and  definite  solutions  as  are 


13 

sufficient  to  satisfy  an  inquisitive  and  discriminating 
mind.  That  criterion  of  identity  of  species  first  sug- 
gested by  the  English  naturalist,  Ray,  and  after- 
wards more  largely  insisted  on  by  BufFon,  has  been, 
since  his  age,  most  generally  received ;  that  is,  the 
power  of  procreating  an  offspring,  that  shall  be  itself 
endued  with  similar  prolific  powers.  The  horse  and 
the  ass  can  produce  a  mule  ;  but  the  mule  being- 
barren,  shews  that  the  sire  and  dam  are  of  different 
species.  It  is  acknowledged,  however,  that  experi- 
ments on  the  procreative  virtue  of  animals,  never 
have  been,  and  probably  never  will  be  made,  in  suf- 
ficient number,  or  with  sufficient  accuracy,  to  estab- 
lish the  criterion  of  Ray  and  BuffiDu  as  a  certain 
and  universal  fact.  If  it  Avere  entitled  to  the  rank 
of  an  incontrovertible  principle  in  natural  science, 
there  could  no  longer  be  any  doubt  concerning  the 
unity  of  the  human  species  under  all  the  various 
forms  and  appearances  in  which  it  has  existed  in  the 
different  regions  of  the  globe. 

Dr.  Blumenbach  observes  that  "  animals  ought  to 
be  ranked  in  the  same  species  when  their  general 
form  and  properties  resemble  one  another,  and  the 
differences  which  subsist  among  them  may  be  deriv- 
ed from  some  degenerating  cause."'     According  to 


14 

this  principle,  if  it  be  admitted,  those  only  are  to  be 
esteemed  of  different  species  whose  distinctive  pro- 
perties are  so  essential  to  each  respectively,  and  so 
inherent  in  them,  that  they  cannot  be  changed,  or 
their  differences  accounted  for,  by  the  known  opera- 
tion of  any  physical,  or  moral  causes.  If  thi.s,  then, 
be  received  as  the  acknowledged  criterion  of  diver- 
sity of  species,  I  doubt  not  being  able  to  demon- 
strate, in  the  progress  of  this  essay,  that  all  the  vari- 
eties of  men  may  have  sprung  from  the  same  origi- 
nal stock.  To  whichever  criterion,  therefore,  we 
appeal,  the  same  conclusion  will  result.* 


*  It  is  amusing-  to  see  the  critical  reviewers  in  England,  in 
their  remarks  on  the  first  edition  of  this  essay,  attach  so  much 
importance,  as  they  do,  to  a  frivolous  and  dubious  disquisition 
respecting  the  proper  criterion  of  a  distinct  species,  which 
could  lead  to  no  otlaer  result,  by  their  own  confession,  than  this, 
that  no  accurate  criterion  has  ever  been  discovei-ed  by  philoso- 
phers. If  that  be  so,  surely  a  discussion  of  the  question,  mere- 
ly as  an  exhibition  of  learning  in  Natural  Science,  could  have 
been  of  little  importance  towards  an  elucidation  of  the  subject. 
— '■^  So  loose  and  inconclusive  is  his  reasoning,  say  they,  that 
he  hus  never  enquired  what  really  constitutes  a  difterent  species. 
In  botany,  it  is  preserving  the  general  and  essential  characters 
in  changes  of  situation,  mid  losing,  in  time,  the  accidental  dif- 
ferences which  climate  and  culture  have  produced.  In  animals, 
■\\]ierc  the  distinction  ought  to  have  begun,  it  has  been  neglcct- 
ad,  [vi:-'..  by  Natu!-alists].     If  the  production  of  a  fertile  off- 


15 

The  hypothesis  that  the  human  kind  is  divided  in- 
to various  species,  radically  different  from  one  ano- 
ther, is  commonly  connected  in  the  systems  of  phi- 
losophers with  another  opinion,  which,  however  gen- 
eral the  assent  be  which  it  has  obtained,  is  equally 
contrary  to  true  philosophy,  and  to  the  sacred  history ; 
I  mean  the  primitive  and  absolute  savagism  of  all  the 


spring  be  the  criterion  of  the  sameness  of  the  species,  men  al-e, 
undoubtedly,  of  the  same  species.  Buttliis  distinction  is  found 
to  be  fallacious,  particularly  in  domestic  animals.  And,  if  care- 
fully examined,  we  shall  find  that,  in  zoology,  the  species  are 
not,  in  reality,  ascertained  with  accuracy.  We  must,  then,  at 
last,  refer  to  the  botanical  distinction." — Now  what  elucidation 
could  my  subject  have  received  from  such  learned  remarks, 
which  leave  the  question  in  the  same  uncertainty  in  which  they 
found  it  ?  "  In  zoology,  they  say,  no  criterion  has  beei^  ascer- 
tained with  accuracy  ;" — therefore  they  will  apply  to  animals 
that  which  botanists  have  fixed  for  plants.— .Be  it  so.  It  differs 
not  much  from  that  which  Dr.  Bkimenbach  proposes  both  for 
plants  and  animals.  And,  agreeably  to  this  criterion,  it  is  the 
whole  object  of  the  essay  to  deduce  tlie  varieties  of  men,  or  to 
account  for  them,  from  what  the  Doctor  calls  degenerating  cau- 
ses ;— or,  to  shew,  according  to  the  botanical  sttuidard  of  the 
Reviewers,  that  men  in  all  climates,  "  preserve  the  general  and 
essential  characters  of  the  i-ace,  and  will  lose,  in  time,  the  acci- 
dental differences  which  climate,  and  culture^  or  the  habits  of 
living;  and  various  states  of  society.)  have  produced  in  them.'" 
With  what  success  this  has  loeen  done  I  cheerfully  leave  to  the 
philosophic  reader  to  determine. 


16 

tribes  of  men.  A  few  observations  on  this  opiniofi 
calculated  to  demonstrate  its  utter  improbability,  if 
not  its  obvious  falsehood,  will  not,  I  presume,  be 
deemed  impertinent  to  the  object  of  the  following- 
essay  ;  which  is  to  confirm  the  doctrine  of  the  unity 
of  the  human  race,  by  pointing  out  the  causes  of  its 
variety.  As  this  argument,  however,  rests  on  an  en- 
tirely different  kind  of  proof,  and  is  only  incidentally 
related  to  my  principal  design,  I  shall  present  it  to 
the  reader  with  the  greatest  brevity.  And  I  trust  it 
will  not  be  found  to  be  an  argument  so  trite,  or  so 
unimportant,  as  to  render  it,  on  either  account,  un- 
worthy his  serious  attention. 

The  original,  and  absolute  savagism  of  mankind, 
then,  is  a  principle  which  appears  to  me  to  be  con- 
tradicted equally  by  sound  reason,  and  by  the  most 
authentic  documents  which  remain  to  us  of  ancient 
history.*  All  the  earliest  monuments  of  nations,  as 
far  as  we  can  trace  them,  fix  their  origin  about  the 
middle  regions  of  Asia,  and  present  man  to  us  in  a 


*  The  argument  from  history  will  be  found  handsomely  illus- 
trated by  Mr.  David  Doig  of  Sterling  in  Scotland,  in  tliree  let- 
ters addressed  to  Lord  Kaims,  and  published  in  one  small  duo- 
decimo volume. 


17 

state  already  civilized.  From  this  centre  we  perceive 
the  radiations  of  the  race  gradually  shooting  them- 
selves towards  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  Savage 
life  seems  to  have  arisen  only  from  idle,  or  restless 
spirits,  who,  shunning  the  fatigues  of  labor,  or  spurn-^ 
ing  the  restraints  and  subordinations  of  civil  society, 
sought,  at  once,  liberty,  and  the  pleasures  of  the 
chace,  in  wild,  uncultivated  regions  remote  from 
their  original  habitations.  Here,  forgetting  the  arts 
of  civilized  life,  they,  with  their  posterity,  degene- 
rated, in  a  course  of  time,  into  all  the  ignorance  and 
rudeness  of  savagism,  and  furnished  ample  materials 
to  the  imagination  of  the  poets  for  the  pictures  they 
have  presented  to  us  of  the  abject  condition  of  the 
primitive  men.  But  let  us  consult  reason,  as  well  as 
history,  for  the  truth,  or  probability  of  their  pictures. 
Hai'dly  is  it  possible  that  man,  placed  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  new  world,  in  the  midst  of  its  forests  and 
marshes,  capable  of  reason,  indeed,  but  without  having 
formed  principles  to  direct  its  exercise,  should  have 
been  able  to  preserve  his  existence,  unless  he  had  re- 
ceived from  his  Creator,  along  with  his  being,  some 
instructions  concerning  the  use  and  employment  of 
his  faculties,  for  procuring  his  subsistence,  and  in- 

c 


18 

venting  the  most  necessary  arts  of  life.  Nature  has 
furnished  the  inferior  animals  with  many  and  power- 
ful instincts  to  direct  them  in  the  choice  of  their  food, 
and  with  natural  instruments  peculiarly  adapted  to 
enable  them,  either  by  climbing  the  forest  tree  for  its 
fruits,  or  by  digging  in  the  earth  for  nutricious  roots, 
to  obtain  it,  in  sufficient  quantities  for  the  sustenance  of 
life.  Butman,  destitute  ofthe  nice  and  accurate  instincts 
of  other  animals,  as  well  as  of  the  effectual  means 
which  they  possess  of  procuring  their  provision,  must 
have  been  the  most  forlorn  of  all  creatures,  although 
destmed  to  be  lord  of  the  creation ;  unless  we  can 
suppose  him,  like  the  primitive  man  of  the  sacred 
scriptures,  to  have  been  placed  in  a  rich  gai-den 
which  offered  him,  at  hand,  its  abundant  and  spon- 
taneous fruits.  Cast  out,  an  orphan  of  nature,  naked 
and  helpless,  into  the  savage  forest,-  he  must  have 
perished  before  he  could  have  learned  how  to  supply 
his  most  immediate  and  urgent  wants.  Suppose  him 
to  have  been  created,  or  to  have  started  into  being, 
we  know  not  how,  in  the  full  strength  of  his  bodily 
powers,  how  long  must  it  have  been  before  he  could 
have  known  the  proper  use  of  his  limbs,  or  how  to 
apply  them  to  climb  the  tree,  and  run  out  upon  its 
limbs  to  gather  its  fruit,  or  to  grope  in  the  earth  for 


$9 

roots,  to  the  choice  of  which  he  could  not  be  led  by 
his  smell,  and  for  the  collection  of  which  the  human 
hand,  especially  in  its  soft,  and  original  state,  is  most 
imperfectly  adapted.  Very  inadequate  must  have 
been  the  supply  obtained  by  these  means,  if  a  supply 
could  have  been  obtained  at  all,  for  wants  the  most 
pressing  and  importunate  in  our  nature,  and  for  appe- 
tites the  calls  of  which,  in  such  a  state,  wherein  its 
supplies  must  always  be  both  scanty,  and  difficult  to 
be  procured,  could  never  be  intermitted.  We  are 
prone  to  judge  of  the  mental  powers  of  such  a  being, 
in  the  first  moments  of  his  existence,  by  the  faculties 
which  we  perceive  in  ourselves,  or  observe  among 
savages  with  whom  ^ve  are  acquainted,  whose  minds 
have  been,  in  a  degree,  improved  and  strengthened 
by  experience.  The  American  savage,  for  example, 
has  been  taught  from  his  infancy  the  necessary  arts 
for  supplying  his  wants.  But  the  primitive  man,  if 
we  suppose  him  to  have  received  no  communication 
of  knowledge  from  his  Creator,  and  to  have  been 
abandoned  merely  to  his  o\\'n  powers,  without  the 
least  aid  from  experience,  or  instruction,  would  have 
been  nothing  but  a  large  infant.  Reason,  the  su- 
preme prerogative  of  our  nature,  and  its  chief  dis- 
tinction from  that  of  the  inferior  animals,  could  haA^e 


20 

availed  him  little  in  that  emergency.  It  would  have 
required,  in  order  to  its  exercise,  a  knowledge  of 
principles,  and  of  the  nature  of  the  objects  around 
him,  which  could  have  been  the  result  only  of  time, 
and  a  certain  degree  of  experience.  In  the  mean 
time,  that  recent  mass  of  organized  matter,  called  a 
man,  would  probably  have  perished.* 

*  If  it  be  asked  how  those  few  wild  men,  who,  at  different 
times,  have  been  found  in  the  forests  of  Europe  have  preserved 
themselves,  if,  as  has  been  conjectured,  they  were  exposed  in 
infancy  ? — I  believe  rather  that  they  have  been  lost  in  the  forests 
after  the  period  of  infancy  and  childhood,  and  when  they  had  al- 
ready acquired  some  knowledge  of  tlie  manner  of  gathermg  cer- 
tain fruits,  and,  perhaps,  of  taking  by  art  the  smaller  species  of 
game.     The  youth  who,  not  long  since,  was  found  in  a  wood  in 
France,  appeared,  by  a  scar  which  he  had  upon  his  person,  to 
have  been  one  of  those  victims  who  esceiped  from  the  knife  of 
the  fiuiatical  revolutionists,  while  probably  his  parents  were 
murdered,  or  were  obliged  to  leave  him  in  their  flight.     How- 
ever this  may  be,  he,  and  all  the  others  who  have  been  found  in 
similar  situations,  have  been  so  affected,  probably  with  terror 
when  they  found  themselves  abandoned,  that  they  seem  to  have 
been  bereft  of  a  great  portion  of  the  native  powers  of  intellect, 
and  rendered  incapable  of  the  ordinary  exercises  of  reason. 
They  resembled  brutes  more  than  men.     Attentive  only  to  the 
calls  of  hunger,  and  the  objects  with  which  they  were  accustom- 
ed to  satisfy  that  appetite,  they  seemed  to  be  capable  of  no  other 
ideas.     They  could  not  be  made  to  understand  the  advantages, 
nor  relish  the  habits  of  civilized  life.    And  whenever  tliey  could 
escape  fi'om  their  keepers,  were  ready,  like  the  wildest  animals, 


21 

But,  if  we  believe  that,  in  this  deplorable  condi- 
tion, he  could  have  found  means  to  sustain  life,  man, 
originally  a  savage,  and  a  savage  in  the  most  abject 
state  in  which  it  is  possible  for  human  nature  to  ex» 
ist,  must  have  remained  a  savage  for  ever.  Urged 
by  the  most  pressing  wants  of  nature,  for  which  all 
his  exertions,  undirected  by  skill,  and  unassisted  by 
the  natural  arms  which  other  creatures  possess,  could 
have  furnished  but  a  scanty  supply,  and  which,  there- 
fore would  have  never  ceased  one  moment  to  harass 
him,  he  would  not  have  enjoyed  leisure  to  invent 
any  of  those  arts  which  enter  into  the  first  elements 
of  civilized  life.  An  importunate  appetite,  with  bru- 
tal  impulse,  would  have  so  continually  precipitated 
him  from  object  to  object  in  order  to  gratify  its  crav- 
ings, that  he  could  have  redeemed  no  portion  of  his 
time  for  contemplating  the  powers  of  nature,  or  for 
combining  his  observations  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
apply  those  powers  in  ingenious  inventions,  for  an- 

t©  dart  into  the  forests  again.  These  miserable  beings,  and  not 
a  modern  savage  who  has  deiived  a  few  arts  from  his  ancestors, 
and  they,  at  some  remote  period,  from  a  more  civilized  peopiC, 
are  the  proper  types  of  the  primitive  man  thrown  like  a  helpless 
and  abandoned  infant  from  the  hand  of  his  Creator,  upon  the 
wild  and  desolate  surface  of  the  new  world. 


22 

ticipating  his  wants,  or  for  facilitating  their  supply. 
If  he  could  indulge  a  moment's  repose  from  the  impor- 
tunity of  hunger,  it  would  be  to  resign  the  next  mo- 
ment to  absolute  inaction,  like  a  satiated  beast  in  his 
den.  The  character  of  a  savage  is  infinitely  impro- 
vident. Nothing  he  abhors  so  much  as  labor,  when 
he  is  not  under  the  immediate  impulse  of  some  im- 
perious appetite,  or  passion.  The  Americim  savage, 
who  possesses  many  advantages  above  the  primitive 
man  whom  we  are  contemplating,  as  soon  as  he  is 
released  from  the  fatigues  of  the  chace,  generally 
gives  himself  up  to  listless  and  gloomy  indolence. 
And,  though  he  has  derived  from  his  ancestors,  who 
probably  emigrated  from  different  regions  in  the  old 
world,  the  rudiments  of  the  arts  of  hunting  and  fish- 
ing, which  might  have  been  expected  to  lay  a  foun- 
dation for  a  further  progress  in  improving  the  com- 
forts of  his  condition ;  yet  with  these  rude  and  scanty 
arts  the  indolent  genius  of  savagism  has  been  con- 
tented; and,  during  three  centuries  since  America 
was  first  discovered  by  Europeans,  he  has  not  been 
known  to  advance  a  single  step  in  the  amelioration 
of  his  state.  Even  in  those  situations  in  which  he 
has  iiad  the  most  favourable  opportunities  to  observe 
the  benefits  resulting  from  agriculture  and  the  me- 


23 

chanic  arts,  in  augmenting  the  conveniences  and 
comforts  of  living,  he  has  never  profited  by  the  ex- 
ample. He  regards  the  labors  of  the  field,  and  the 
work-shop,  as  an  intolerable  servitude  to  men  who 
have  it  in  their  power  to  enjoy  the  range  of  the  for- 
est; and,  after  the  sports  of  the  chace,  to  recline 
themselves  in  indolent  repose.  To  a  few  of  the  abo- 
riginal tribes  who  would  permit  it,  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  with  a  laudable  concern  for  the 
interests  of  humanity,  has  endeavoured  to  extend  a 
benevolent  patronage,  with  a  view  to  raise  them,  if 
possible,  above  their  present  rude  and  savage  condi- 
tion. But  it  has  found  the  greatest  difficulty  in  in- 
troducing among  them  only  two  or  three  of  the  simp- 
lest arts  of  civilized  society.  And  only  two  or  three 
of  those  tribes  have  hitherto  been  induced  to  admit 
the  smallest  change  in  their  habits  of  life.  The  love 
of  complete  personal  independence,  and  the  abhor- 
rence of  every  species  of  restraint  so  natural  to  the 
savage,  would  for  ever  prevent  him,  when  left  to  his 
own  native  impulses,  and  not  encouraged,  assisted, 
and  directed,  and,  in  some  measure,  controled,  by 
extraneous  and  superior  power,  from  making  even 
the  first  advance  in  the  career  of  civilization.  But 
if  any  philosopher  pretends  that,  in  the  natural  pro- 


24 

gress  of  things,  a  savage  tribe,  cut  off  from  all  com- 
munication with  more  polished  nations,  will,  by  the 
eiforts  of  their  own  genius,  invent,  and  gradually  per- 
fect the  arts  of  civilized  life,  let  him  point  out  the 
instance.  Following  the  lights  of  history,  we  fre- 
quently see  rude  and  barbarous  people  prompted  and 
assisted  in  their  progress  to  refinement  by  the  exam- 
ple and  influence  of  nations  who  have  advanced  far 
before  them  in  this  career.  The  Greeks  were  polish- 
ed by  the  Asiatics,  and  Egyptians  ;  the  Italians  by 
,the  Greeks,  and  by  colonies  from  the  Lesser  Asia ; 
and  Italy  extended  her  arts  to  Germany  and  Gaul. 
But  history  presents  to  us  no  tribe  originally  and  per- 
fectly savage  who  has  voluntarily  sought  from  abroad, 
and  introduced  among  themselves  the  manners,  and 
the  arts  of  any  civilized  nation ;  much  less  has  in- 
vented those  arts,  and  cultivated  those  manners,  from 
the  operation  of  any  causes  arising  solely  within 
themselves,  or  any  tendencies  in  human  nature, 
while  existing  in  such  a  state  of  society,  towards  fur- 
ther improvement.  The  unsuccessful  efforts  of  the 
United  States  to  introduce  among  the  tribes  of  sava- 
ges, who  skirt  along  our  western  frontiers,  only  a 
few  of  our  arts,  most  obviously  tending  to  their  own 
advantage,  demonstrate  that  the  genius  of  savagism 


25 

is  obstinately  opposed  to  the  labours,  the  restraints, 
and  industrious  habits  required  in  civilized  society^ 
Hardly  has  any  individual  savage  ever  been  induced 
to  adopt  our  manners.  Such,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
the  charm  of  their  wandering  and  independent  state, 
the  pleasure  of  alternately  pursuing  their  game,  and 
reposing  in  indolence,  that  many  of  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States  are  found  voluntarily  to  renounce 
all  the  conveniences  of  civilization  to  mingle 
with  the  savages  in  the  wilderness,  giving  the  pre- 
ference to  their  idle  and  vagrant  habits  of  life. — Two 
striking  and  practical  examples  which  demonstrate, 
on  one  hand,  with  what  facility  civilized  man  sinks 
into  the  savage,  especially  in  those  circumstances 
which  so  frequently  offered  themselves  to  restless 
and  idle  spirits  in  the  early  periods  of  the  world  ;  and 
on  the  other  hand,  what  difficulties,  almost  insur- 
mountable, the  savage  state  opposes  to  the  ascent  of 
human  nature,  in  the  contrary  progression  towards 
the  cultivation  of  the  arts  of  civilized  life. 

If  such  is  the  genius  and  character  of  savagism, 
as  it  appears  in  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  America,  how 
much  farther  removed  from  the  first  elements  of 


26 

civilization  must  have  been  those  primitive  species 

cf  men,  contemplated  by  this  hypothesis; 

Qui  prorepserunt  primis  animalia  terris, 

Mutum  et  turpe  pecus,  glandem  atque  cubilia  propter 

Unguibus  et  pugnis,  pugnantia  ? — * 

HoR.  Sat.  lib.  1.  Sat.  iii.  lib.  98. 

Compared  with  such  beings  the  American  indian 
may  be  considered  as  an  artist,  and  a  sage.  Com- 
pared with  their  hands,  the  only  instruments  afforded 
them  by  nature  to  dig  into  the  earth  for  a  miserable 
subsistence,  the  bow  and  the  hook  may  be  regarded 
ifts  high  and  noble  inventions.  By  such  men,  impel- 
led by  incessant  and  importunate  wants;  urged  by 
the  perpetual  clamors  of  appetite  ;  having  their  men- 
tal powers  almost  annihilated  by  the  rudeness  and 
miseries  of  their  state,  in  which  they  could  enjoy  no 
leisure  for  meditation,  no  composure  for  reflection, 
no  comparison  of  sentiment  with  others  ;  and  bru- 
talized in  all  their  faculties,  their  habits,  and  their 
tastes,  it  would  have  been  impossible  that  one  prin- 
ciple of  science  should  have  been  discovered,  or  one 
liberal  art  ever  have  been  invented.    The  existence  oT 


*  «  Who  crept  forth  like  beasts  from  the  fresh  earth,  a  mute 
and  filthy  herd,  fighting  with  fists  and  nails,  for  their  acorns  anel 
their  dens." 


2T 

civilized  society  in  the  world  is  a  proof  that  man  was 
never  in  such  an  abject  state.  Infinitely  more  wretched 
than  those  animals  which  provide  by  instinct  for  their 
subsistence,  and  accommodation,  and  are  furnished 
with  natural  arms  for  the  purpose,  adapted  to  their 
respective  states,  a  thousand  ages  would  not  have 
been  sufficient  to  raise  them  to  the  art  of  the  beaver. 
Besides,  uncivihzed  man  is  a  lazy,  improvident, 
ajid  filthy  animal:     If  he  has  food  for  the  present 
day,  nothing  is  able  to  rouse  him  to  industry.     Con- 
tented, and  even  pleased  with  filth,  because  in  that 
state  he  feels  himself  more  perfectly  at  ease,  for  even 
the  attentions  of  cleanliness  are  a  constraint  to  a  sav- 
age, he  feels  no  motive  to  desire  any  accommodation 
beyond  what  he  is  compelled  by  necessity  to  seek. 
Men  with  such  dispositions  will  be  for  ever  stationary 
in  whatever  condition  they  may  happen  to  be  placed. 
Ages  will  elapse,  as  we  have  already  seen  in  the 
North- American  savages,  and  to  them  we  may  add 
all  the  independent  tribes  of  the  southern  continent, 
without  making  a  single  effort  to  ameliorate  their  con- 
dition.* Nothing  but  the  controlling  influence  of  some 

*  The  population  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  as  ^vill  hereafter  be 
trhewn,  has  every  appearance  of  having  been  orif^iaally  derived 


civilized  power  could  ever  induce  a  savage  to  wield 
a  spade,  or  guide  a  plough.  And  all  the  ages  of 
time  would  not  be  sufficient  to  teach  him  to  separate 
from  the  ore,  and  to  prepare,  the  metal  of  which 
those  instruments  are  made.* 


from  nations  who  had  antecedently  made  some  progress  to- 
wards civilization. 

*  There  can  hardly  exist  a  doubt  in  the  minds  of  those  who 
have  had  an  opportunity  of  intimately  observing  tlie  manners, 
and  disposition  of  savages,  but  that  it  is  absolutely  impossible 
that  they  should  ever  discover  and  separate  the  iron  from  its 
ore,  and  render  it  malleable  and  fit  for  use.  This  requii-es  a 
train  and  a  kind  of  observation  and  reflection  to  which  the  savage 
is  utterly  incompetent.  To  say,  aa  has  been  said,  that  an  acci- 
dental fire  in  the  woods  in  Mount  Ida,  or  any  other  mountain, 
or  that  the  eruption  of  a  volcano,  might  throw  out  the  metal  in 
the  form  of  cast  iron,  indicates  as  little  reflection,  and  know- 
ledge of  the  subject  as  savages  themselves  possess.  Volcanos, 
which  cast  up  lava,  and  fragments  of  stone  in  great  abundance, 
have  never  been  known  to  throw  out  smelted  iron.  And  the 
fires  which  at  any  time  are  kindled  in  forests,  an  event  which 
frequently  happens  in  those  of  America,  where  mines  of  iron 
abound,  never  have  a  heat  strong  enough,  or  sufficiently  con- 
centratedto  smelt  tlie  softest  metals. — Indeed,  if  an  indian  had 
found  a  piece  of  cast-iron  he  would  have  known  as  little  what  to 
do  with  it  as  with  the  ore.  The  process  for  rendering  it  mal- 
leabie  could  never  have  entered  his  thoughts.  And  no  acciden- 
tal efl'ect  of  the  small  fires  kept  in  his  hut,  or  wigwam,  could 
possibly  have  disclosed  it  to  him. — Ever  since  the  Europeans 
arrived  on  the  American  continent,  the  natives  have  been  ac- 


29 

A  just  philosophy,  therefore,  grounded  on  fact 
and  experience,  will  lead  us  to  the  conclusion  which 
the  sacred  scriptures  propose  as  an  elementary  prin- 
ciple of  our  belief;  that  man,  originally  formed  by  a 
wise  and  beneficent  Creator,  was  instructed  by  him 
in  the  duties,  and  the  most  necessary  arts  of  life. 
Thus  were  laid,  in  the  very  commencement  of  the 
race,  the  foundations  of  domestic,  social,  and  civil 
order.  From  the  primitive  man,  thus  instructed, 
have  descended  the  various  tribes  of  men  upon 
the  earth ;  and  from  him  have  been  derived  to  his 
posterity,  both  the  elements  of  religion  which  we 
perceive  diffused  through  the  original  traditions  of  all 
nations,  and  the  priiKiiples  of  the  useful  arts  v^hich 
we  find  cultivated  among  them  from  the  earliest 
dawn  of  history. 

quainted  with  iron,  and  have  seen  various  instruments  formed 
of  that  metal :  yet  even  that  knowledge,  and  the  advantttges 
which  they  have  seen  derived  from  the  use  of  iron,  have  not  in 
three  centuries  turned  their  attention  to  discover  and  employ 
it  for  themselves.  And  for  how  many  centuries  before,  had 
they  trodden  over  the  richest  hills  of  the  ore  without  ever  hav- 
ing framed  an  idea  of  the  treasures  which  nature  had  deposited 
beneath  their  feet  ?  If  such  has  been  the  case  with  the  Ameri- 
can savage,  what  prospect  for  the  invention  of  arts  could  be  en- 
tertained from  those  human  brutes  with  which  the  pl.ilosophy  of 
some  men  would  conmience  the  population  of  the  world  ? 


30 

But,  among  the  most  absurd  of  all  opinions  arc 
two,  directly  contrary  in  their  principles,  yet  origin- 
ating from  die  same  desire  to  account  for  all  things 
without  acknowledging  any  immediate  act  of  crea- 
tion  by  the  Almighty.     One  ascribes  an  eternal  suc- 
cession to  the  human  race   upon  this  globe;  the 
other  pretends  to  account  for  the  original  existence 
of  man  by  an  equivocal  generation  resulting  from  the 
united  action  of  moisture  and  heat  on  the  primitive 
mass  of  the  world,  not  yet  perfectly  redeemed  from 
chaos,  nor  drained  of  its  waters.     On  this  supposi- 
tion, indeed,  if  it  had  any  support  in  the  order  of 
nature,    these  philosophers  might  find,  in  the  slime 
of  the  recent  earth,  as  many  species  of  men,  as  there 
are  of  insects  generated,  according  to  their  philoso- 
phy,   from  the  same  cause,    in  a  stagnant  morass. 
But,   can  the  patrons  of  this  extraordinary  system 
explain  the  reason  why  nature  has  never  made  but 
one  such  effort  ?    Why  have  we  never,    since  that 
first  generative  act,   found,    in  the  most  extensive 
morasses,  even  in  the  torrid  zone,  one  newly  formed 
man  ;  nor  even  one  limb,  or  outline  of  a  man,  just 
shooting  from  the  moistened,  and  heated  earth,  like 
crystals  in  a  chemical  process  ?    Have  not  moisture 
and  heaty  and  all  the  other  elements  of  nature,  the 


51 

same  properties  still  which  they  possessed  in  the  be= 
ginning  ?  But  if  these  wretched  philosophers  only 
wish  to  avoid  the  immediate  agency  of  God  in  the 
creation  of  this  world,  and  of  man ;  if,  for  this  pur- 
pose, they  will  strike  off  the  mass  of  this  globe  from 
the  body  of  the  sun  by  the  impulse  of  a  comet;  yet, 
in  their  retrogression  through  the  vast  series  of  natu- 
ral causes,  is  there  not- some  point  at  which  they 
must  ultimately  stop,  and  confess  a  creating  power 
which  has  given  its  original  movement  and  direction 
to  the  system  of  the  universe  ?*  If  so,  why  not  stop 
with  religion  at  the  beginning  of  this  world,  where 
we  may  behold  man  coming  from  the  hand  of  his 
Creator,  not  like  a  casual  clod  of  the  valley,  nor 
thrown  from  him  like  a  wretched  and  abandoned  or- 
phan, but  so  instructed  and  assisted  by  Him  who 
deigned  to  form  him,  and  endow  him  with  reason, 
that  he  should  be  worthy  to  be  the  parent  of  his  nu- 
merous posterity,  and  lord  of  the  new  creation  ? 
True  religion,  and  true  philosophy  must  ultimately 


*  Unless  they  avow  the  principle  of  a  gloomy  and  deplorable- 
atheism,  and  lose  themselves,  like  many  of  the  ancient  philoso- 
phers, in  an  infinite  chaos  of  atomical  actions,  which  have  no 
otlier  cause  for  their  existence,  or  their  motions,  but  the  ne- 
cessary nature  of  matter. 


arrive  at  the  same  principle.  There  is  the  highest 
reason  to  believe  that  the  primitive  man  received 
from  his  Creator,  along  with  his  existence,  such  a 
knowledge  of  the  qualities,  powers,  and  uses  of  the 
various  objects  around  him,  together  with  such  mo- 
ral and  religious  principles,  as  would  lay  in  his  fam- 
ily,  and  among  his  immediate  descendants,  the  true 
foundations  of  civilized  society.  Hence  the  primi- 
tive nations  are,  at  their  first  appearance,  in  history, 
already  civilized.  Savagism  was  an  after  growth, 
which  took  its  origin  from  idle,  or  disorderly 
men  who,  abhorring  the  constraints  of  society, 
sought,  in  the  bosom  of  boundless  forests,  that  free- 
dom from  control,  and  from  labor,  which  was  con- 
genial with  their  wandering  disposition.  By  rapidly 
extending  themselves  over  the  uncultivated  regions 
of  Europe,  and  the  North  of  Asia,  they  there  prepar- 
ed the  elements  of  future  nations.  Thus  mankind, 
either  in  a  civilized,  or  savage  state,  became  diffused 
in  time  over  the  surface  of  the  whole  globe.  In 
every  position  suffering  the  influences  of  the  climate, 
of  the  sterility  or  richness  of  the  soil,  of  the  eleva- 
tion or  depression  of  the  face  of  their  country,  of  the 
vicinity  of  seas  or  desaits,  of  their  insulai',  or  conti- 
nental situation :  or  the  modiftcations  of  all  these. 


resulting  from  their  occupations,  and  their  habits  of 
living.  Hence  they  now  present  to  the  eye  an  almost 
infinite  variety  in  their  complexion,  their  form  and 
features,  and  their  whole  personal  aspect. 

If  we  compare  together  only  those  varieties  of 
human  nature  by  which  the  several  sections  of  man- 
kind differ  most  widely  from  one  another,  the  dif- 
ference is  so  great  that,  on  the  first  view,  it  might 
very  naturally  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  they  must 
belong  to  distinct  species.     But,  when  we  come  to 
examine  more  particularly  the  intermediate  grades 
which  connect  thei  extremes,  and  observe  by  what 
minute  differences  they  approach,    or  recede  from, 
one  another;  and  when  we  observe  further,  that  each 
of  these  minute  gradations  can  be  traced  to  obvious 
and  natural  causes,  forming  so  many  links,   as  it 
were,  in  the  great  chain  connecting  the  extremes, 
we  are  ready  to  call  in  question  our  first  impressions, 
and  perceive  the  necessity  of  subjecting  them  to  a 
new  and  more  rigorous  examination. 

I  have  already  remarked,  that  it  is  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  true  philosophy  to  resort  to  the  hypothesis  of 
different  original  species  of  men  in  order  to  explain 
varieties  which  can  otherwise  be  accounted  for  from 


34 

the  known  operation  of  natural  causes.  Philosophy 
delights  in  tracing  the  most  diversified  results 
through  various  combinations,  to  the  simplest  ele- 
ments. And,  if  we  can  find,  in  the  laws  of  nature, 
powers  sufficient  to  impress  on  the  ground  of  the 
same  original  constitution  of  man  all  the  varieties  of 
complexion  and  form  which  have  distinguished  the 
race  in  different  climes,  and  states  of  society,  it  is  an 
homage  which  we  owe  to  philosophy,  as  well  as  to 
religion,  to  refer  all  the  different  nations  of  the  earth 
to  the  same  original  stock.  It  is  a  debt  which  we 
owe  to  humanity  to  recognize  our  brethren  in  every 
class  of  men  ixito  which  society  is  divided,  and  under 
every  shade  of  complexion  which  diversifies  their 
various  tribes  from  the  equator  to  the  poles. 

I  shall  endeavour,  in  the  following  essay,  to  fulfil 
these  obligations  to  science,  and  to  charity.  But,  in 
the  course  of  this  disquisition,  if  some  of  the  facts 
from  which  important  conclusions  are  drawn,  seem, 
at  first  view,  to  those  who  have  not  been  accustomed 
to  observe  nature  in  her  nicest  operations,  to  be  too 
minute  to  bear  the  consequences  which  are  charged 
upon  them,  I  trust  that  a  closer  attention  to  the  very 
fine  and  almost  insensible  effects  of  many  physical 
causes,  which,  in  the  end  produce  the  greatest  re- 


suits,  will  convince  the  judicious  inquirer  that  greater 
stress  may  not  have  been  laid  upon  them  than  they  are 
able  to  bear;  so  far  at  least  as  to  prevent  a  hasty  rejec- 
tion of  the  principles,  and  to  procure  for  them  a  fair, 
candid,  and  patient  investigation.* 

Of  the  chief  causes  of  the  varieties  of  the  human 
species  I  shall  treat  under  the  heads 

Of  Climate, — C)f  the  State  of  Society^ — and,  Of 
the  Manner  of  Living. — 

OF  CLIMATE. 

In  tracing  the  various  climates  of  the  globe,  ad- 
vancing from  the  arctic  circle  to  the  equator,  we 
find  them  marked  with  considerable  regularity  by 
the  colour  of  the  inhabitants.  In  the  European  con- 
tinent, we  meet,  in  the  highest  temperate  latitudes, 
\yith  a  ruddy,  and  sanguine  complexion,  which  is 


*  It  will  be  of  importance  to  bear  in  mind  tliroughout  this 
essay,  that  the  causes  affecting  the  physical  or  moral  constitu- 
tion of  man,  and  ultimately  producing  great  distinctions  be- 
tween nations,  seldom  attain  their  full  operation  till  after  a  long 
series  of  time.  By  almost  imperceptible  touches  they  produce 
their  effects,  till  entering  deeply,  at  length,  into  the  habits  and 
whole  structure  of  our  nature,  they  are  tran^^mitted  from  pa- 
rents to  their  offspring.  Even  sevei-al  generations  may  pass 
away  before  the  ultimate  results  of  the  mfluences  either  of  the 
climate,  of  the  state  of  society,  or  of  the  manner  of  living,  ar? 
perceived. 


commonly  conjomed  with  diiferent  shades  of  redne»§ 
in  the  hair.*  We  soon  descend  to  a  clearer  mixture 
of  red  in  white.  And  afterwards  succeed  the  brown, 
the  swarthy,  and,    passing   over  into  Africa,    the 


*  Black  hair  united  witli  a  very  dark  complexion  is  frequent 
in  the  high  latitudes  of  the  temperate  zone,  which  may  indicate 
the  affinity  of  those  people  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  frigid 
zone,  or  rather  the  correspondence  of  the  influences  of  tliese 
neighbouring  climates.  Near  the  boundary  line,  the  climates 
may  frequently  interchange  their  effects ;  or  the  different  races 
may  be  often  intermingled.  There  seems  to  be  even  some 
affinity  between  the  secretions,  or  colouring  matters,  which 
give  the  red  or  black  complexion  to  the  hair  ;  since  it  is  ob- 
served, in  red  haired  families,  if  one  person  accidentally  differs 
from  the  law  of  the  house,  it  is  most  commonly  to  the  opposite 
colour  of  black  ;  and  the  reverse  of  this  often  takes  place  in 
families,  and  even  in  nations  distinguished  by  the  darker  shades' 
of  complexion  and  hair. 

Blumenbach  remarks  that,  as  to  the  various  colour  of  th^ 
human  hair,  there  seems  to  be  considerable  affinity  between 
the  red  and  the  black.  He  adds,  that  very  frequently  persons 
marked  by  the  redness  of  the  hair  are  found  among  the  darkest 
complexioned  nations,  (p.  169.)  He  quotes,  as  his  authorities, 
Chai'levoix,  in  his  history  of  New  France,  who  speaks  of  the 
fact  as  existing  among  the  Esquimaux, — ^Lopez,  who  observed 
it  among  the  inhabitants  of  Congo, — Sonnerat,  among  those  of 
New-Guinea, — and  Marion,  and  Wallis,  in  the  islands  of  the 
great  South-Sea.  And  the  Doctor  was  in  possession  of  red 
coloured  hair  cut  from  tlie  head  of  a  mulatto. 

I  have  myself  seen  a  yovmg  man,  about  seventeen  years  oi 
age,  of  a  fair  and  ruddy  complexion  interspersed  with  freckles, 
such  as  are  coinmou  to  that  kind  of  skin,  and  having  a  reddish 


tawny,  increasing  by  darker  and  darker  shades  as 
we  approach  the  hottest  temperature  of  the  torrid 
zone.  In  the  Assiatic  continent  we  pass  at  once  from 
the  fair  to  the  oUve,  and  thence  by  various  grada- 
tions  in  the  darkness  of  the  hue  to  the  black  colour 
which  prevails  in  the  southern  provinces  of  the  penin- 
sulas of  Arabia  and  India.  The  same  distance  from 
the  sun,  however,  does  not,  in  every  region,  indicate 
the  same  temperature  of  climate.  Besides  the  lati- 
tude, many  secondary  causes  must  be  taken  into 
consideration  to  determine  the  character  of  the  cli- 
mate. Elevated  and  mountainous  countries,  in  pro- 
portion to  their  altitude  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
ascend  towards  that  region  of  the  atmosphere  in 
which  we  find  the  dominion  of  perpetual  cold.  High 
mountains  likewise  arresting  the  clouds  in  their 
course,  compel  them  to  pour  their  frequent  rains, 
as  well  as  spread  their  cool  shades  over  the  vallies 
which  lie  between  them.     Deep  bays  and  arms  of 


wool  tipped  with  a  dirty  white,  who  was  bom  in  South-Carolina 
of  parents  both  of  whom  were  perfectly  black  and  of  the  African 
race.  He  was  of  a  stout  and  vigorous  constitution,  and  discov- 
ered no  symptom  of  weakness,  except  in  his  eyes,  the  iris  of 
which  had  a  tincture  of  red,  and  they  appeared  to  be  more  af- 
fected with  a  strong  light  than  is  commou  in  white  men. 


m 

the  sea  running  far  within  the  land,  temper  both  the 
heat  and  the  cold  of  the  climate.     And  islands  com- 
monly enjoy  a  milder  temperature  than  continents 
placed  at  the  same  distance  from  the  sun.     Vicinity 
to  the  ocean  produces  opposite  effects  in  high  north- 
ern latitudes,  and  in  the  latitudes  nearer  the  equator; 
for  this  great  body  of  water  being  of  a  more  equal 
temperature  than  the  land,  in  one  case  corrects  the 
cold,  in  the  other  moderates  the  heat.     Extensive 
ranges  of  lofty  mountains,  such  as  the  Appenines  in 
Italy,  the  Alps  in  Switzeiiand,  and  Taurus,  Cauca- 
sus, and  Imaus  in  Asia,  by  interrupting  the  current 
of  cold  winds  on  the  one  side,  and,  on  the  other,  of 
the  warm  airs  from  the  South,  create,  in  the  coun- 
tries which  lie  below  tliem  towards  the  equator,  a 
temperature  much  warmer,  and  in  those  above  them 
towards  the  North,  much  colder,  than  would  be  in- 
dicated by  the  difference  of  latitude.     The  frigid 
zone  in  Asia,  if  I  may  give  this  denomination  to  the 
entire  region  of  prevailing  cold  in  that  quarter  of  the 
globe,  is  much  wider  than  in  Europe.     Asia,  in- 
deed, can  hardly  be  said  to  know  a  temperate  zone. 
From  the  northern  ocean  to  the  Caucasian  or  Uralian 
chains  of  hills,  it  may  be  regarded,  says  Montesquieu, 
as  a  fiat  mountain,  or,  as  he  should  rather  have  said, 


3d 

the  declivity  of  a  mountain,  gradually  descending 
towards  the  north  through  a  space  of  two  thousand 
miles.*  Thence  to  the  ocean  which  washes  Arabia, 
Persia  and  India,  it  is  generally  a  low  country,  de-^ 
dining  to  the  south,  destitute  of  seas  to  temper  the 
warmth  of  the  atmosphere,  and  protected  by  im- 
mense ranges  of  hills  from  the  cold  winds  which 
blow  from  the  North.  The  Asiatic  continent,  there- 
fore, below  the  fortieth  degree  of  latitude,  is  subject- 
ed to  a  much  greater  heat  than  is  experienced  in  the 
same  parallels  in  Europe ;  but  between  that  degree 
and  the  arctic  circle  the  dominion  of  cold  is  propor- 
tionably  increased.     The  nature  of  the  soil,  likewise, 

*  Some  of  the  longest  rivers  on  the  globe,  the  Oby,  the  Yeni- 
sea,  and  the  Lena,  rising  from  ranges  of  mountains  near  the  lati- 
tudes of  the  Caspian  sea,  take  their  direction  towards  the  North, 
and  empty  their  waters  into  the  ocean  within  the  arctic  circle. 
On  the  opposite  side  of  this  elevated  region  the  rivers  bend  their 
course  towards  the  South.  So  that  the  continent  of  Asia,  iu 
this  part,  presents  the  figure  of  the  roof  of  a  house,  offering 
its  southern  side  more  perpendicularly  to  the  rays  of  the  sun, 
while  the  northern  side,  declinmg  from  them,  disperses  them 
over  a  larger  surface.  At  the  same  time,  the  level  face  of 
the  country  exposing  it  more  to  the  unbroken  sweep  of  the 
polar  winds,  the  union  of  both  these  causes  renders  the  North 
of  Asia  much  colder  than  the  correspondent  latitudes  in  Eu- 
rope, while  the  southern  declivity  of  that  continent  is  propor- 
Honably  warmer. 


40 

and  the  state  of  cultivation  in  different  countries  cre- 
ate some  variation  in  the  temperature  of  the  climate. 
Sand  is  susceptible  of  a  much  higher  degree  of  heat 
from  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  retains  it  longer 
than  clay  or  loam ;  and  an  uncultivated  region,  shad- 
ed with  forests,  and  filled  with  undrained  marshes, 
is  more  frigid  in  northern,  and  more  temperate  in 
southern  latitudes  than  countries  laid  open  to  the 
full  action  of  the  solar  influence.*  In  winter  the 
moisture  of  the  atmosphere  is  congealed  into  more 
abundant  snows,  and  in  summer  descends  in  more 
frequent  and  copious  showers  of  rain.  When  the 
North  of  Europe  lay  almost  buried  in  its  native  for- 

*  Notwithstanding  this  general  fact,  it  is  equally  true  that^ 
in  a  new  country,  like  that  of  the  United  States,  when  only  a 
few  plantations  are  opened  here  and  there  in  the  midst  of  the 
woods,  the  inhabitants  are  subjected  to  a  more  oppressive  heat 
in  the  summer  season  than  they  will  be  when  the  country  shall 
be  entirely  disforested.  When  a  small  plantation  is  opened  in 
a  forest,  the  surrounding  woods  obstruct  those  breezes  which 
would  refresh  the  inhabitants,  while  they  are  exposed  to  the  di- 
rect and  scorching  rays  of  the  sun.  To  this  we  may  add,  that 
the  moist  vapor,  with  which  the  atmosphere  is  generally  filled 
in  a  region  that  is  not  yet  cleared  and  drained,  settling  down 
more  copiously  on  the  few  spots  which  are  opened,  where  there 
is  not  vegetation  sufficient,  as  in  the  woods,  to  absorb  it,  ren- 
ders the  heat  more  oppressive,  and  at  the  same  time  the  atmos- 
phere move  unwholesovne. 


41 

ests,  and  was  inhabited  only  by  various  tribes  of 
barbarians  and  savages,  there  are  several  facts  re- 
corded in  history  which  demonstrate  that  cold  pre- 
vailed in  a  much  higher  degree  than  at  present.  In 
the  age  of  Horace  hail  and  snow  were  frequent  phe- 
nomena at  Rome ;  and  the  light  wines  of  Italy  were 
sometimes  frozen  in  their  cellars.  And  Trajan,  in 
his  Dacian  wars,  is  said  to  have  transported  his  ar- 
mies across  the  Danube  on  the  ice.  But  since  those 
bajbarous  regions,  from  the  Adriatic  to  the  White 
Sea,  have  been  civilized,  and  those  extensive  for- 
ests have  been  cleared  away,  and  the  earth  subject- 
ed to  tillage,  hail  or  snow  are  rarely  seen  at  Rome, 
and  their  wines,  at  present,  never  suffer  from  con- 
gelation. 

From  the  preceding  observations  this  conclusion 
results ;  that  there  is  a  general  ratio  of  temperature 
prevailing  over  the  whole  globe  according  to  the  de- 
gree of  latitude  from  the  equator,  which  forms  what 
is  usually  denominated  climate.^    And  a  general  re- 

*  Besides  the  effects  resulting  from  temperature,  or  the  di- 
rect action  of  the  sun's  rays,  when  we  consider  the  various  ele- 
ments, or  gases,  which  enter  into  the  constitution  of  our  atmos- 
phere, and  the  different  proportions  of  these  principles  which 
exist  in  the  various  regions  of  the  globe,  according  to  their 

£ 


42 

semblance  may  be  traced  in  the  complexion  of  na. 
tions  inhabitingthe  same  latitudes.  Both  thebeeffects, 
however,  are  greatly  modified,  in  different  countries, 
by  various  combinations  of  the  causes  already  men- 
tioned. And  the  latter,  in  particular,  together  with 
the  whole  human  appearance,  is  still  more  diversifi- 
ed by  the  state  of  society  in  which  different  tribes  of 
the  human  race  exist,  and  their  manner  of  living ; 


proximity  to  the  course  of  the  sun,  or  according  to  their  soils, 
their  waters,  their  minerals,  their  volcanos,  and  a  thousand 
other  causes  which  affect  tliis  aerial  ocean,  it  is  not  surprizing 
that  animal  bodies,  constantly  exposed  to  their  action,  and  suf- 
fering their  influences,  either  by  absorption,  at  the  surface  of 
the  skin,  or  by  respiration,  by  which  theii'  qualities  are  im- 
parted to  the  mass  of  the  blood  through  the  lungs,  or  the  sto- 
mach, should  be  sensible  of  material  changes  in  many  respects 
from  the  variations  of  this  atmospheric  constitution.  These 
variations  will  be  greatly  increased,  and  diversified  in  their  in- 
fluence on  the  human  body  by  the  different  proportions  of  light, 
of  heat,  of  the  electric  fluid,  and  of  many  other  operative  and 
powerful  principles  constantly  mingling  themselves  with  the 
mass  of  the  air.  Although  tliis  general  proposition  will  be 
easily  admitted  to  be  true,  yet  the  respective  effects  on  the 
hiunan  constitution  of  these  fine  and  active  principles  every 
where  blended  with  the  atmosphere,  so  easily  elude  our  obser- 
vation, and  are  so  difncult  to  be  separately  ascertained,  and  dis- 
criminated from  one  another,  that  the  present  state  of  physical 
science  forbids  us  to  hops  for  much  satisfaction  from  any  at- 
tempt minutely  to  investigate  them. 


43 

the  influence  of  which  causes  shall,  hereafter,  be 
more  minutely  examined. 

;  Let  us,  in  the  first  place,  pass  under  review  the 
general  effects  of  climate  upon  the  colour  of  the  hu- 
man skin  :  after  which  we  shall  take  notice  of  the 
principal  apparent  deviations  from  the  common  law 
exhibited  in  various  portions  of  the  earth. 

The  power  of  climate  to  char-ge  the  complexion 
is  demonstrated  by  facts  which  constantly  occur  to 
our  observation.  In  the  summer  season  we  perceive 
that  the  intensity  of  the  sun's  rays  in  our  climate 
tends  to  darken  the  colour  of  the  skin,  especially  in 
the  labouring  poor  who  are  more  constantly  than 
others,  exposed  to  their  action.  In  the  winter,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  cold  and  keen  winds  which  then 
prevail  contribute  to  chafe  the  countenance,  and  to 
excite  in  it  a  sanguine  and  ruddy  complexion.  In 
the  temperate  zone,  the  causes  of  these  alternate  and 
opposite  effects  serve,  in  a  degree,  to  correct  one 
another.  But  in  proportion  as  heat  or  cold  predomi- 
nates in  any  climate,  it  tends  to  impress  a  permanent 
and  characteristic  complexion.  The  degree  in 
which  the  one  or  the  other  prevails  over  its  opposite 
may  be  considered  as  a  constant  and  uniform  cause 
to  the  action  of  which  the  constitution  is  exposed. 


44 

Heat  and  cold  affect  the  nervous  system  by  tensioii 
or  relaxation,  by  dilatation  or  contraction,  and  in  this 
way,  produce  an  alteration  in  the  state  of  the  solids. 
Hence  also  the  fluids  are  affected ;  the  quantity  of  the 
perspiration  is  augmented  or  diminished ;  and  the 
proportions  of  the  various  secretions  changed.  But 
the  human  skin  is  susceptible  of  still  greater  and 
more  sensible  changes,  by  the  opposite  actions  of 
the  intense  rays  of  the  sun,  or  of  the  principle  of  cold 
upon  its  delicate  texture.  Even  minute  differences 
in  the  power  of  the  cause  often  become  perceptible 
in  the  variety  of  the  effect.  The  justness  of  this  re- 
mark will  be  rendered  more  obvious  by  a  familiar 
example  which  is  constantly  exposed  to  our  obser- 
vation. A  cold  and  piercing  air  chafes  the  counte- 
nance, and  increases  the  ruddiness  of  the  complexion. 
A  warm  and  moist  atmosphere,  on  the  other  hand, 
tends  to  relax  the  constitution,  and  commonly  pro- 
duces, in  valetudinarians  especially,  some  tincture 
of  a  bilious  hue.  These  effects,  in  countries  where 
heat  and  cold  succeed  each  other  in  nearly  equal  pro- 
portions, are  transient  and  interchangeable.  But 
where  the  climate,  in  any  given  proportion,  repeats 
the  one,  or  the  other,  of  these  impressions,  there,  in 
the  same  degree,  is  formed  a  correspondent  ancj 


45 

habitual  colour  of  the  skin.  If  I  have  applied  this 
t^m  to  the  colour  of  the  skin,  as  well  as  to  the  fea- 
tures and  form  of  the  countenance  and  person,  it  is 
because  I  believe  that  the  greater  part  of  the  varieties 
in  the  appearance  of  the  human  species  may  justly  be 
denominated  habits  of  the  body.  Like  other  habits, 
they  are  created,  not  by  great  and  sudden  impres- 
sions of  their  causes,  but  by  continual,  and  almost 
imperceptible  touches.  Of  habits,  both  of  mind, 
and  of  body,  nations  are  susceptible  as  well  as  indi- 
viduals. Long  in  growing  to  maturity,  national  fea- 
tures, like  national  manners,  become  fixed  only  after 
a  succession  of  several  generations.  At  last,  how- 
ever, they  become  fixed.  And  if  we  can  ascertain 
any  effect  produced  by  a  given  state  of  climate,  of 
society,  or  of  the  habits  of  living,  it  requires  only 
to  be  repeated  during  a  sufficient  length  of  time,  to 
give  it  a  permanent  character,  and  so  to  incorporate 
it  into  the  constitution,  as  to  render  it  an  hereditary 
property  of  the  race.  The  sanguine,  or  the  fair  com- 
plexion will,  for  this  reason,  be  perpetual  in  the 
higher  latitudes  of  the  temperate  zone,  and  we  shall 
generally  find  different  shades  of  the  dark  colours, 
gradually  increasing,  till  we  arrive  at  the  perfectly 
black,  as  ^ve  descend  to  the  equator. 


46 

If  those  philosophers,  who  maintain  that  the  vari- 
eties in  complexion,  and  other  constitutional  proper- 
ties of  diiferent  tribes  of  mankind,  are  infallible  indi- 
cations of  diversity  of  species,  have  embraced  this 
hypothesis  from  an  apprehension  that  it  is  most  con- 
sistent with  the  benignity  and  wisdom  of  the  Crea- 
tor to  form  different  races  of  human  beings,  fitted  by 
some  peculiar  adaptation  of  their  physical  organs  to 
the  respective  climates  they  were  severally  destined 
to  inhabit ;  one  would  think  that  sound  reason 
should  induce  us,  from  these  premises,  to  infer  a 
contrary  conclusion  ;  that  he  has  formed  the  human 
constitution  with  such  flexibility  in  its  organization, 
tliat  it  is  capable  of  accommodating  itself  to  every 
situation  on  the  globe,  to  which  business  or  neces- 
sity may  call  men,  or  a  liberal  curiosity  and  the  de- 
sire of  improvement  may  invite  them.  This  pliancy 
of  nature  in  man,  above  that  of  most  other  animals, 
is  favorable  to  the  intercourse  of  the  most  distant 
nations,  and  greatly  facilitates  the  cultivation  of  sci- 
ence. To  what  ample  sources  of  information  have 
not  navigation  and  commerce  opened  an  access  ? 
How  imperfect  must  the  philosophy  of  human  nature 
itself  have  remained  if  we  had  been  precluded  from 
contemplating  it  under  every  climate;  and  form  of 


society,  and  in  every  progressive  stage  of  its  im- 
provement from  absolute  savagism,  to  the  highest 
point  of  civilization  and  refinement  ?  And  according 
to  this  wise  and  benignant  intention  of  providence, 
do  we  not  see  mankind  continually  changing  their 
habitations  ?  Do  not  we  find  them  under  every  zone 
from  the  equator,  to  the  pole,  not  only  able .  to  en- 
dure all  these  different  degrees  of  temperature  with- 
out injury,  but  so  assimilated  by  time  to  the  charac- 
ter of  each  new  climate,  that  hardly  can  we  pro- 
nounce with  certainty,  who  have  been  descended 
from  the  aboriginals  of  the  country,  and  who  from 
families  who  have  migrated  thither  only  a  few  gene- 
rations past? 

Why  should  it  be  thought  necessary  then  that  the 
Creator  should  have  formed  different  species  of  men 
to  inhabit  the  frozen  regions  of  Lapland,  and  the 
torrid  climes  of  Africa,  when  it  is  confessed  by  one 
of  the  greatest  champions  of  this  doctrine,  that  a 
colony  of  Hungarians,  who  are  among  the  handsom- 
est and  best  proportioned  people  of  Europe,  have, 
by  migrating  to  Lapland,  some  ages  ago,  become 
absolutely  assimilated  to  the  natives  of  the  country 
in  every  attribute  of  that  diminutive  and  deformed 


race,*  or  were  really  the  original  stock  from  which 
the  present  inhabitants  are  derived  ?  And  the  same 
author  asserts  that  a  colony  of  Portuguese,  cstab- 
li  shed  in  Congo,  not  yet  three  centuries  since,  have 
so  degenerated  in  complexion,  in  the  figure  of  their 
persons,  and  their  habits  of  living,  as  to  be  no 
longer  distinguishable  from  the  neighbouring  tribes 
of  Hottentots,  who  are  among  the  filthiest,  the  most 
deformed  and  savage  of  mankind.  These  examples 
ought  surely  to  have  convinced  the  learned  advocate 
of  this  hypothesis  how  unnecessary  it  is  to  the  ex- 
planation of  the  different  appearances  which  human 
nature  puts  on  in  the  different  climates  and  regions  of 
the  globe,  having  before  his  view  such  proofs  of  the 
facility  with  which  the  constitution  of  man  moulds 
itself  to  the  impressions  of  each,  and  assumes  the 
habits  of  every  state  of  society. 

Before  proceeding  to  treat  directly  of  the  causes 
of  the  various  degrees  of  dark  complexion  observa- 
ble in  the  different  tribes  of  the  human  species,  it 
will  not  be  improper  to  propose  two  or  three  prelim- 
inary remarks  on  the  structure  of  the  skin,  the  seat 
of  colour.    This  fine  integument,  although  extreme- 

*  Lord  Kaims  in  his  sketches  of  the  history  of  man. 


^9 

ly  delicate,  and  susceptible  of  the  lightest  impres- 
sions from  many  causes  both  external  and  internal, 
is,  however,  in  its  organic  texture,  among  the  least 
mutable  parts  of  the  human  body.  Hence  any  co- 
lour introduced  into  its  substance  is  not  easily  erad- 
icated. Figures  stained  in  it  with  paints  inserted 
by  punctures  become  indelible.  For  the  same  rea- 
son, freckles,  though  consisting  only  of  partial  stains 
impressed  on  the  surface  of  a  fair  skin  by  a  slight 
exposure  to  the  sun  and  air,  cannot  be  removed  but 
with  great  difficulty  ;*  and  in  persons  of  a  certain 
-ruddiness  of  complexion,  such  as  is  found  com- 
monly united  with  hair  of  a  dark  red,  or  deep  orange 
colour,  can  never  be  entirely  effiiced.f 

*  White  may  be  regarded  as  the  colourless  state  of  skin,  and 
all  the  shades  of  the  dark  colours  as  different  stains  inserted 
into  its  substance. 

t  It  has  been  remarked,  and  not  without  reason,  that  a. dark 
colour  of  the  skin  may  be  considered  as  a  universal  freckle. 
And,  certainly,  if  the  same  kind  of  secretion  mingling  with  the 
perspirable  matter  issuing  from  the  poi-es  of  the  skin,  v/hich  is 
fixed  by  tlie  action  of  the  sun  or  air,  on  certain  points  in 
freckles,  should  be  equably  diffused  over  the  whole  surface  of 
ttiG  body,  or  throughout  the  whole  substance  of  the  skin,  and 
we  can  discern  no  reason  why  it  may  not,  every  point  would 
consequently  be  stained  with  the  same  colour. 

F 


50 

We  see,  even  in  our  own  climate,  that  the  solar 
rays  are  able  to  penetrate  the  entire  substance  of  the 
skin  ;  and,  when  it  is  first  exposed  to  them  without 
covering,  they  dissolve  its  texture,  by  inflaming  and 
raising  it  into  blisters.     This  action  tends  not  only 
to  change  its  colour,  but  to  incrassate  its  substance 
till  it  becomes  thick  enough  to  resist  any  further  al- 
teration from  their  influence  ;*  when  it  assumes  a 
hue,  more  or  less  deep,  according  to  the  power  and 
continuance  of  the  cause.     The  complexion  of  the 
African  zone,  therefore,   in  the   greater  portion  of 
which  the  inhabitants  are  both  savage  in  their  man- 
ners,  and  almost  universally  destitute  of  clothing, 
will  naturally  be  as  much  deeper  as  the  ardor  of  the 
sun,  t  in  those  parched  regions  is  both  more  con- 

*  The  stimulus  of  the  sun's  rays,  exciting  a  greater  flux  of 
humours  to  the  skin,  tends  to  incrassate  its  substance.  Hence 
the  skin  on  tlie  hands  and  face  of  labourers,  and  sea-farusg  men, 
is  thicker  than  tliat  on  other  parts  of  the  body.  And  all  people 
of  colour  have  this  integument  thicker  than  persons  of  a  fair 
complexion.     Bium.  p.  110. 

t  Pliny  seems  inclined  to  ascribe  the  colour  of  the  Africans 
entirely  to  the  excessive  ardor  of  the  sun  in  that  climate.  He 
says,  lib.  2.  cap.  78.  "  Elhiopas  vicini  Sideris  vapore  torreri, 
adustisque  similes  gigni,  barba,  &  capillo  vibrato,  non  est 
dubium."     And  Ovid  in  the  second  book  of  the  Metamorphos- 


SI 

stattt,  and  more  intense  than  in  the  temperate  lati- 
tudes,  or  even  in  other  districts  of  the  torrid  zone. 

The  dark  colours  of  the  tropical  nations,  however, 
are  not  to  be  ascribed  solely  to  the  action  of  the  sun's 
rays  upon  the  skin.  Extreme  heat,  especially  when 
united  with  putrid  animal,  or  vegetable  exhalations, 
which  in  all  torrid  climates  are  found  copiously  to 
impregnate  the  atmosphere,  tends  greatly  lo  aug- 
ment the  secretion  of  bile  in  the  human  s}  stem,* 
which,  being  diffused  over  the  whole  surface  of  the 
body,  imparts  to  the  complexion  a  dull  yellow  tinge, 
that  soon  assumes  a  very  dark  hue,  by  being  expos- 
ed to  the  sun,  and  by  immediate  contact  with   the 


©s,  relating  the  fable  of  Phaeton  attributes  the  effect  to  the 
chariot  of  the  sun.  In  which,  says  Feijoo,  although  the  sub- 
stance of  the  narration  is  fabulous,  he  alludes  to  the  opinion 
which  was  tlien  generally  adopted ;  that  the  proximity  of  the 
sun  was  the  cause  of  the  colour  of  the  Ethiopians- 
Sanguine  tunc  crcdunt  in  coi'pora  summa 
Vocato,  Ethiopvim  populos  nigrum  traxisse  colorem. 

*  Dr.  M<Clurg  in  his  treatise  on  the  bile,  asserts  that  this 
secretion  is  always  increased  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of 
heat  which  prevails  in  any  climate.  We  ought,  however,  to 
take  into  our  consideration  also  other  causes  of  an  increased 
secretion  of  bile,  as  putrid  miasmata  in  tiie  atmosphere,  meagre, 
or  scanty  food,  excessive  hardships,  and  whatever  corrupts,  or 
impoverishes  the  blood. 


52 

exteraal  air.*  Different  shades  of  the  dark  colours^ 
therefore,  till  we  arrive  at  the  deepest  black,  will  be 
found  in  the  human  complexion,  in  proportion  to 
the  predominancy  of  bile  in  the  constitution,  as  well 
as  of  heat  in  the  climate. 

On  the  immediate  causes  of  colour  in  the  human 
species  I  shall  state  a  few  obvious  facts.  We  may 
not  be  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  internal  process 
of  nature  in  the  production  of  those  phenomena,  yet 
their  existence  may  be  sufficient  to  convince  the 
philosophic  observer  that  climate  is  the  principal 
agent  in  creating  that  variety  of  complexion  which 
distinguishes  mankind  in  the  different  regions  of  the 
globe. 

1  The  rays  of  the  sun,  Hvhen  suffered  to  act  im- 
mediately on  the  human  skin,  tend  to  produce  a  dark 
colour,  although  there  should  be  no  uncommon  re- 
dundancy of  bile  in  the  constitution. 

2.  On  the  other  hand,  redundancy  of  bile  imparts 
a  dark  hue  to  the  complexion!  in  persons  who  have 

*  Take  bile  from  any  animal,  and  expose  it  but  for  a  short 
time  to  the  influence  of  the  sun  and  air,  and  it  beppmeg  black. 

t  There  is  a  great  agreement,  and  sympathy,  &ays  Blumen- 
bach,  between  the  liver^  the  laboratory  of  bile  in  tlie  human 


53 

not,  in  any  uncommon  degree,  been  exposed  to  the 
direct  action  of  the  smi.  Accordingly,  we  frequent- 
ly see  those  who  have  bten  long  affected  in  different 
degrees  by  an  excess  of  this  secretion,  contract  a 
hue  resembling  that  of  various  dark  coloured  na- 
tions.* 


constitution,  and  the  common  integuments  of  the  body,  or  the 
skm  ;  and  both  are  to  be  considered  as  being  among  the  princi- 
pal means  providexl  by  nature  for  purifying  Uie  mass  of  the 
blood, 

«  Manifestus  officinas  bilis  cum  integumentis  communibus 
*|  consensus.  Utraque  quippe  organa,  hefiar  nempe  et  cutisy 
«  ad  maxime  principalia,  et  invicem  consentientia  sangujnese 
"  massjE  purgatoria  referenda."  De  gen.  hum.  degen.  &c. 
§  44.   p.    126. 

*  Dr.  Strack,  in  his  observations  concerning  intermittent  fe- 
vers,  speaking  of  jaundice  arising  from  this  cause,  says,  "  I 
have  seen  the  skin,  after  such  a  jaundice,  remain  of  an  olive 
colour,  Uke  that  of  the  Asiatics,  and  even  be  imparted  to  chil- 
dren.    One  I  have  seen  become  nearly  as  black  as  an  East-In- 
dian: and  another  the  whole  skin  of  whose  body  became  as  dark 
as  if  he  had  been  tlie  offspring  of  an  Indian  father,  and  Euro- 
pean mother,  while  the  palms  of  the  hands,  and  soles  of  the  feet 
remamcd  white  like  those  of  the  indians."     Book  iii.  ch.  2. 
I  may  add  to  these  examples  of  Dr.  Strack  that  of  a  genUe^ 
man  of  the  town  of  Newark  in  the  state  of  New-Jersey,  whose 
complexion  has,  for  more  than  twenty  years,  been  as  dark  as 
that  of  an  aboriginal  American.     This  colour  was  induced  at 
hrst  in  consequence  of  disease;  but  though  he  has,  for  a  long 
time,  enjoyed  his  health,  the  colour  still  remains.     «  I  woulH- 


54 

3.  Where  both  causes  co-operate,  as  is  the  case 
m  all  fervid  climates,  the  effect  upon  the  complex- 
ion of  the  inhabitants  must  be  greater  in  proportion 
to  the  influence  of  the  respective  causes. 

4.  The  human  skin  has  been  discovered  by  anat- 
omists  to  consist  of  three  distinct  lamellae  or  integu- 
ments  ;  the  external,  or  scarf-skin,  which  is  an  ex- 
tremely fine  netting,  and  perfectly  transparent  in  the 
darkest  coloured  nations,-— -the  interior,  or  true  skin, 
which,  in  people  of  all  the  different  grades  of  colour, 
is  white, — and   an  intermediate  membrane,  which 

not,  says  Dr.  Blumenbach,  urge  too  far  the  analogy  of  the 
jaundice  Avith  the  national  colour  of  the  skin,  yet  are  there  sev- 
eral phenomena  Avhich  merit  attention  on  this  subject,  and, 
among  others,  the  folloAving  ;  that,  among  nations  of  a  dusky, 
or  black  complexion,  it  is  a  frequent,  not  to  say  general  thing, 
to  find  persons,  otherwise  in  their  full  health,  who  have  the 
white  of  the  eye  tinged  with  a  certain  yelloAvish  appearance  like 
those  who  have  been  affected  by  bilious  disorders.  This  is 
very  observable  in  the  natives  of  India,  of  tropical  Africa,  and 
America."  For  the  fact  he  quotes  De  la  Loubere  descript.  du 
royavuue  de  Siam.  T.  1.  p.  81.  and  Rochefort,  hist,  naturelle 
des  Antilles,  p.  383.  He  adds,  Ave  frequently  see  in  those  who 
have  been  affected  with  jaundice,  according  to  the  degree  of  the 
disorder,  the  skin,  in  different  persons,  stained  with  various 
f;hades  greatly  i-esembling  the  complexion  of  different  nations 
of  colour,  which  stain  often  remains  pemianent  after  the  dis- 
ease has  been  entirely  removed.  Blum,  de  gen.  hum.  degcn. 
in  specie.  %'4r5.  p.  131. 


55 

is  cellular  in  its  structure,  somewhat  like  a  honey- 
comb. This  membrane  is  the  proper  seat  of  coloui^ 
being  filled  with  a  delicate  mucous,  or  viscid  liquor, 
which  easily  receives  the  lively  tinge  of  the  blood 
when  strongly  propelled,  by  any  cause,  to  the  sur- 
face, or  the  duller  stain  of  the  bile  when  it  enters 
in  any  undue  quantity  into  the  circulation.  The 
smallest  surchange  of  this  secretion  imparts  to  it  a 
yellow  appearance ;  which,  by  remaining  long  in 
contact  with  the  atmosphere  assumes  a  darker  hue,"^ 
and  if  exposed,  at  the  same  time,  to  the  immediate 
influence  of  the  sun,  approaches,  according  to  the 
heat  of  the  climate  and  the  degree  in  which  the  bile 
prevails,  towards  black. 

5.  The  gall,  or  bile  of  any  animal  exposed  to  the 
sun  and  air,  in  a  short  time  becomes  black  :  a  phe- 
nomenon which  probably  results  from  the  great  pro- 
portion of  carbon  which  enters  into  its  composition,* 


*  Even  the  blackest  negro,  when  first  born,  does  not  exhibit 
his  true  complexion  till  ufter  he  has  been  some  time  exposed  to 
the  contact  of  the  external  air. 

*  Carbon,  in  its  purest  state,  is  known  to  be  clear  and  trans- 
parent, as  is  seen  in  the  diamond  ;  but  in  that  mixed  and  im- 
pure condition  in  which  it  exists  in  most  bodies,  especially  in 
the  bile,  the  contact  of  the  atmosphere,  or  the  action  of  heat. 


and  the  evaporation  which  takes  place  in  the  open  air 
«f  the  hydrogen,  or  aqueous  fluid  with  which  it  had 
been  combined  and  diluted. 

6.  When,  from  any  cause  therefore,  the  bilious 
secretion  has  been  increased  beyond  its  natural  pro- 
portion, approaching  the  surface  of  the  body  in  the 
progress  of  the  circulation,  the  carbonic  matter  of  its 
composition  becomes  there  attached  to  the  viscid 
mucous  in  the  cellular  membrane  of  the  skin,  while 
the  more  thin  and  volatile  hydrogen  with  which  it  is 
combined,  having  a  stronger  affinity  and  attraction 
with  the  oxygen  of  the  atmosphere,  and  flying  off' 
first,  leaves  it  precipitated  and  entangled  in  those 
cells  where  it  stains  and  discolours  the  complexion.* 

renders  it  black.  Even  the  diamond,  by  the  force  of  intense 
heat,  may  be  covered  vi^ith  a  black  crust. 

*  This  is  confirmed  by  an  observation  of  Dr.  Blumenbach  in 
his  treatise  de  gen.  hum.  degen.  in  specie,  §44.  p.  124,&c. 
The  proximate  cause,  says  he,  of  the  dark  colour  in  the  ex- 
ternal integuments  of  the  skin  is  to  be  sought  in  the  carbon 
which  abounds  in  the  human  body,  and  abounds  more  in  the  oil 
and  bile  than  in  any  other  animal  substances.  The  latter  com- 
ing united  with  the  hydrogen,  with  which  it  is  intimately  com- 
"bined,  to  the  surface  of  the  body,  the  hydrogen  tliere  attaches 
itself  more  quickly  to  the  oxygen  of  the  atmosphere,  on  ac- 
count of  their  superior  mutual  attraction,  and,  flying  off  first, 


57 

7.  The  bile  itself  is,  perhaps,  more  liable  than 
most  other  secretions  in  the  human  body,  to  become 
incrassated  and  mucous:  at  least  it  is  always  copious- 
ly found  in  that  state  in  the  stomach  and  intestines  of 
those  persons  who  have  been  long  subject  to  bilious 
disorders. 

8.  The  vapours  arising  from  stagnant  vi^aters  with 
which  uncultivated  regions  abound,  great  fatigues 
and  hardships,  po\  erty  of  diet,  fiithineirS  in  the  man- 
ner of  living,  tend,  likewise,  to  create  a  surcharge  of 
the  bilious  secretion.     Hence,  as  well  as  from  their 


the  carbon  is  precipitated  in  the  rete  malphighianum,  or 
second  integument  of  the  skin,  and  infects  it  with  its  dark 
colour  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  which  various  causes  have 
thrown  into  the  circulation,  the  chief  of  which  is  climate.  CiiU- 
sam  equidem  pi-oximara  adusti,  aut  fusci  coloris  externorum 
cutis  integumentorum,  in  abundante  carbonaceo  corporis  hu- 
mani  element©  quserendam  censeo,  quod  cum  hydrogenio  per 
corium  excernitur,  oxygenii  vero  atmospherici  accessu  pr^- 
cipitatum,  Mulpihiano  muco  infigitur. 

Ingens  climatum  in  hepatis  actionem  potentia,  utpote  quse 
intra  tropicos  coeli  ardore  mirum  quantum  excitatur  et  auo-e- 
tur.  Hinc  morbi  biliosi  intra  tropicos  multifarii  et  endemii,— . 
Blum,  de  generis  hum.  degen.  in  specie.  §  44.  p.  125,  126. 

In  section  45th,  p.  130th,  he  says  ;  that  the  carbonic  matter 
belongs  to  the  primary  elements  of  the  animal  system,  and  that 
it  is  the  cause  of  a  colour  more  or  less  dark  has  been  rendered 
evident  by  the  late  improvements  in  chemistry,  particularly, 
among  the  French. 


nakedness,  and  exposure  to  the  unmitigated  efFect  of 
the  solar  and  atmopheric  influence,  savages  will  al- 
ways be  discoloured  even  in  temperate,  or  in  cold 
climates.*  For,  although  cold,  when  assisted  by 
succulent  nourishment,  and  by  the  comfortable  lodg- 
ing and  clothing  furnished  by  the  arts  of  civlized 
life,  propels  the  blood  with  force  to  the  surface,  and 
tends,  in  a  healthful  state  of  the  body,  to  render  the 
complexion  clear,  yet,  when  the  system  is  relaxed,  or 
receives  a  surcharge  of  bile  from  the  causes  mention- 
ed above,  and  poor  and  shivering  savages,  under  an 
arctic  sky,  do  not  possess  those  conveniences  which, 
by  cherishing  the  principle  of  life,  assist  the  motion 
of  the  blood  to  the  extremities,  the  constitution  is 
overstrained,  indirect  debility  ensues,  and  an  increase 
of  the  same  discolouring  secretion  is  produced. 


*  From  tlic  aiSnity  of  the  bile,  says  the  same  eminent  physi- 
cian quoted  in  tliekist  note,  with  the  fat  or  oil  of  the  animal  body, 
noticed  also  by  Fourcroy,  (philosophic  chemique,  p.  111.)  ap- 
pears the  reason  of  that  waxen  hue  observable  in  dark  colour- 
ed nations,  remarked  by  J.  F.  Mekel,  histoire  de  Tacademie 
des  sciences  de  Berlin.  1753.  p.  92.— .Hence,  unless  I  am  de- 
ceived, continues  he,  we  derive  the  reason  why  nations  who  live 
chiefly  on  a  food  consisting  of  animal  oil,  not  only  smell  of  the 
oil,  but  contract  a  very  dark  complexion  ;  as  the  Greenlanders, 
and  the  miserable  inhabitants  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  whose  scanty 
subsistence  consists  chiefly  of  the  almost  putrid  fat  of  seals. 


59 

The  rigor  of  their  climate,  the  hardships  of  their 
state,  the  grossness  and  scantiness  of  their  food,  and 
filthiness  of  their  whole  manner  of  living,  not  only 
tend  to  augment  this  secretion,  but,  by  obstructing 
the  pores  of  the  skin,  hold  it  longer  in  nearly  a  stag- 
nant state  at  the  surface  of  the  body,  and  in  contact 
with  the  external  air,  which  occasions  an  increase  of 
the  dark  colour.  Hence,  perhaps,  the  deep  Lappo- 
nian  complexion,  which  has  been  esteemed  a  pheno- 
menon so  difficult  to  be  explained. 

9.  One  other  fact  on  this  subject  deserves  to  be  re- 
marked. Those  who  make  great  and  sudden  changes 
in  tlieir  residence  from  northern  to  southern  cli- 
mates, and,  especially  if  they  remove  from  high  and 
dry  soils  to  moist  and  undrained  regions,  are  usually 
attacked  by  bilious  disorders  which  leave  the  blood 
impoverished,  and  shed  a  dark  colour,  tinged  with  a 
yellow  appearance  over  the  skin.  These  disorders 
are  evidently  the  effects  of  the  climate,  and  are  probr 
ably  only  the  efforts  of  nature  in  removing  that  ten- 
sion of  the  system  which  would  render  it  under  the 
action  of  an  ardent  sun,  liable  to  dangerous  inflama- 
tory  fevers,  and  imparting  to  it  that  proportion  of 


60 

bile  which  is  requisite  to  its  safety,  and  its  comfort- 
able  subsistence  in  its  new  situatioi.* 

In  the  preceding  propositions  I  have  endeavoured 
to  state  some  principles,  supporting  them  on  theau* 
thority  of  unquestionable  facts,  by  which  to  explain 
the  proximate  cause  of  colour,  and  its  various  shades 
in  the  human  species,  but,  whether  the  theory  which 
1  have  attempted  to  erect  on  the  foundation  of  these 
facts  be  satisfactorily  supported  or  not,  the  general 
principle,  that  climate  possesses  all  the  power  to 
change  the  complexion  which  1  have  ascribed  to  it, 


*  Bilious  disorders  are  known  to  relax  the  system,  and  there- 
by to  render  it  less  liable  to  the  inflamatory  fevers  to  which  a 
tense  and  plethoric  habit  would  be  exposed  under  a  hot  sun. 
The  bile  which  tends  easily  to  become  mucous  and  incrassated, 
contributes  ttiso,  by  increasing  the  thickness  of  the  skin,  which 
thereby  forms  a  kind  of  veil  to  tlie  body,  to  resist  the  inflama- 
tory action  of  the  sun's  rays  upon  the  constitution,  and  to  ren- 
der it  more  patient  of  extreme  heat.  For,  it  is  observed  by 
Bkunenbuch,  of  the  reticular  membrane  of  the  skin,  that  it  is 
ulwc-ys  thicker  m  proportion  to  the  darkness  of  the  colouring 
matter  with  which  its  cells  are  filled.   Blum,  de  gen.  £cc.  p.  1 64. 

But  it  should  ever  be  remembered  that  the  predominance  of 
bile  in  the  habit,  and  the  discolouration  of  the  skin,  although 
they  may  be,  and,  in  tlie  first  instance,  visually  are,  the  effects 
of  disease,  yet,  becoming,  in  time,  constitutional  properties, 
they  remaiii  after  all  syniptoms  of  disease  have  passed  itway  j 
and  may  even  become  necessary  to  a  healthful  state  of  the  body. 


#-. 


m 

tian  be  established,  I  apprehend,  on  the  clear  and 
decisive  evidence  of  other  facts,  although  I  should 
have  failed  to  point  out  the  precise  mode  in  which 
climate  acts,  or  accurately  to  have  traced  the  chain 
of  its  effects. — The  principle  results,  then,  from  the 
regularity  of  the  complexional  zones  of  the  world. — 
It  results  from  obvious  and  undeniable  events  within 
the  memory  of  history. — And  it  results  from  facts 
which  come  under  our  own  immediate  observation  in 
America. 

Encircle  the  earth  in  every  zone,  and,  making  those 
reasonable  allowances  which  ought  to  be  made,  for 
the  influence  of  mountains,  lakes,  and  seas,  and  those 
other  circumstances  which  are  known  to  modify  the 
temperature  of  climate,  each  zone  is  seen  to  be 
marked  by  its  own  distinctive,  and  characteristic 
complexion.  The  black  prevails  under  the  equa- 
tor ; — near  the  tropics  we  arrive  at  the  dark  cop- 
per ; — and,  on  tliis  side  of  the  tropic  of  Cancer,  to 
the  seventieth  degree  of  northern  latitude,  we  suc- 
cessively trace  the  tawny,    the  olive,*    the  brown, 


*  Some  difference  exists  in  the  tints  which  mark  the  corres- 
ponding latitudes  in  Asia  and  Europe,  arising  from  the  diver- 
sity of  the  respective  climates  occasioned  by  the  nature  of  the 
soil,  the  form  of  the  continents,  and  other  causes  affecting  the 
temperature  of  the  atmosphere. 


iH'^ 


62 

the  faif,  the  sanguine.  In  each  of  these  grades  we 
discover  several  shades  or  tints ;  till,  beneath  the  arctic 
circle,  \ve  return  to  the  black.  This  general  uniform- 
ity in  the  effect,  as  we  proceed  towards  the  North,  or 
the  South,  affords  a  strong  presumption,  that  the  va- 
rious shades  of  complexion  which  distinguish  the 
different  latitudes  are  to  be  ascribed  chiefly  to  the 
influence  of  climate.  The  apparent  deviations  from 
this  law  which  are  presented  to  our  view  in  particular 
regions  of  the  globe,  will,  when  we  come,  in  the 
progress  of  this  discourse,  to  point  out  their  causes, 
serve  only  to  confirm  the  general  principle.* 

*  Various  causes  may  contribute,  in  certain  districts  of  the 
globe,  to  alter  the  prevailing  temperature  of  the  atmosphere, 
and  consequently  tlie  shade  of  the  complexion,  which  may  be 
said  to  form  the  general  and  characteristic  temperature  and 
complexion  of  any  particular  latitude.  Some  of  these  have 
been  already  suggested,  and  others  will  be  more  largely  detail- 
ed hereafter.  In  a  philosophic  enquiry  into  this  subject  it  is 
necessary  continually  to  recollect  that  there  are  often  various 
climates,  taking  that  term  to  signify  any  particular  degree  of 
heat,  or  of  heat  combined  with  moisture,  under  the  same  par- 
allel of  latitude. 

When  this  obvious  consideration  is  attended  to,  it  is  the 
more  surprizing  that  the  critical  reviewers  in  England,  in  re- 
marking on  the  first  edition  of  tliis  essay,  should  tliink  to  re- 
fute the  reasonings  on  the  influence  and  effects  of  climate  by 
.drawing  their  parallel  round  the  globe,  and  shewing  the  vari- 


03 

The  influence  of  climate  on  the  human  complex- 
ion is  demonstrated  by  well  known  and  important 
events  within  the  memory  of  history.  From  the 
Baltic  to  the  Mediterranean  the  different  latitudes  of 
Europe  are  marked  by  different  shades  of  colour. 
In  tracing  the  origin  of  the  fair  German,  the  dark 
coloured  Frenchman,  and  the  swarthy  Spaniard, 
and  Sicilian,  it  has  been  proved  that  they  are  all  de- 
rived from  the  same  primitive  stock ;  or,  at  least 
from  nearly  resembling  nations  which  may  be  com- 
prehended under  the  general  names  of  Huns  and 
Goths.  The  southern  provinces  of  France,  of  Italy, 
of  Spain,  and  of  other  countries  of  Europe,  are  dis- 
tinguished from  the  northern  by  a  much  deeper 
shade  of  complexion.*     And,  if  we  extend  our  view 


9\js  shades  of  colour  found  under  this  circle This  negligent 

and  injudious  criticism  is  the  less  excusable  because  the  fact 
had  been  remarked  and  accounted  for  in  the  essay  itself;  and 
to  the  candid,  the  attentive,  and  truly  philosophic  reader,  I 
ti'ust  it  is  sufficiently  demonstrated  to  be  the  necessary  result 
of  the  principles  laid  down  on  the  subject  of  climate. 

.  *  It  has  been  remarked  by  travellers  that  in  Spain  the  ladies 
of  the  province  of  Biscay  generally  possess  very  fair  complex- 
ions. In  Grenada,  on  the  other  hand,  and  tlie  other  southern 
provinces,  they  are  of  a  dark  swarth,  vi'hich  is  so  general  a 
characteristic  of  the  ladies  there,  that  it  is  esteemed  a  beauty, 


64 

beyond  Europe  to  the  great  empires  of  the  East,  to 
Arabia,  to  Persia,  to  India,  and  China,  this  obser- 
vation is  still  more  appUcable  to  those  countries 
which  embrace  so  much  greater  an  extent  of  lati- 
tude. The  inhabitants  of  Pekin  are  fair  while  those 
of  Canton  exhibit  as  deep  a  colour  as  the  Mexicans; 
The  Persians  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Caspian  sea  are 
among  the  fairest  people  in  the  world,  and  their 
neighbours,  the  Georgians  and  Circassians,  are  ac- 
knowledged to  be  the  most  beautiful.  But,  this 
delicate  complexion  gradually  changes  to  a  dark  olive 
as  we  approach  the  gulph  of  Ormus.  The  inhabit- 
ants of  the  stony  and  desert  Arabia  are  distinguished 
by  a  light  copper  colour,  while  those  of  the  southern 
provinces  of  Mocha  and  Yemen  are  of  as  deep  a  hue 
as  those  of  middle  India.  The  same  gradation  holds 
in  Egypt,  from  the  Mediterranean  sea  to  the  foot  of 
the  mountains  of  Abyssinia.  The  population  of  the 
southern  provinces  of  the  peninsula  of  India  are 
black  ;  on  the  North,  and  just  below  the  range  of 
the  Caucasian  mountains,  the  complexion  changes 
to  a  light  chesnut,  or  yellow  colour.     And  this  gra- 

and  is  even  given  to  their  pictures  and  statues  of  the  Virgin 
5*lary.     Blum.  p.  135. 


65 

dation  is  observed  both  on  the  Malabar,  and  the  Co  • 
romandel  coast.* 

In  these  extensive  countries  in  which  the  surface 
of  the  earth  is  more  uniform  than  in  Europe,  and 
not  so  much  broken  and  intersected  by  mountains, 
seas,  and  bays  running  far  up  into  the  land,  the  gra- 
dation of  colour  holds  a  more  regular  progression  ac- 
cording to  the  latitude  from  the  equator.  But  the 
influence  of  climate  on  the  complexion  is  better 
illustrated  by  its  effects  on  the  Arabians  and  the  Chi- 
nese, than  on  most  other  nations,  who  have  been  the 
subjects  of  frequent  conquests,  and  great  intermix- 
tures with  foreign  tribes.  These  people  have  re- 
mained, from  a  very  remote  antiquity,  almost  whol- 
ly unmingled  with  foreign  nations.  The  former, 
especially,  can  be  traced  by  a  clear,  and  undisputed 
genealogy  to  their  origin  in  one  family  ;  and  they 
have  never  been  blended,  either  by  conquest,  or  by 

*  The  authors  of  the  Universal  History.  Asiatic  Re- 
searches. Bruce's  Travels.  Accounts  of  Missionaries  to 
India  from  Britain,  Holland,  and  Germany.  A  similar  remark 
is  made  with  regard  to  the  negroes  on  both  sides  of  the  Senegal 
river,  by  Barbot  in  Churchill's  collection  of  voyages.  But  the 
varieties  of  Africa  will  be  afterwards  more  particularly  noticed 
and  accounted  for. 


66 

commerce,  with  any  other  race.  And  yet  we  find 
every  gradation  of  discolouration  among  them  from 
the  swarthy  hue  of  the  northern  provinces  to  the 
deep  black  suffused  with  a  yellowish  tinge,*  which 
prevails  in  the  southern  angle  of  the  Arabian 
peninsula. 

But  no  example  can  carry  with  it  greater  author- 
ity on  this  su)  )ject  than  that  of  the  Jews.  Descend- 
ed from  one  stock,  prohibited  by  their  most  sacred 
institutions  from  intermarrying  with  strangers,  and 
yet  widely  dispersed  into  every  region  on  the 
globe,  this  one  people  is  marked  with  the  peculiar 
characteristics  of  every  climate.  In  Britain  and 
Germany  they  are  fair,  brown  in  France  and  in  Tur- 
key, swarthy  in  Portugal  and  Spain,  olive  in  Syria 
and  Chaldea,  tawny  or  copper-coloured  in  Arabia 
and  Egypt. t 

*  It  is  the  same  colour  which  is  seen  in  those  blacks  who, 
in  the  United  States,  are  denominated  yellow  negroes. 

t  Buffon's  Nat.  Hist.  vol.  III. — Mr.  Buffon,  in  giving  these- 
general  characteristics  of  complexion  writes  rather  like  an  ora- 
tor than  a  philosopher,  taid,  that  he  rray  not  embarrass  his 
stile  by  too  many  distinctions,  gives  the  colour  of  only  a  parUV 
cuiar  portion  of  each  country.  For  example,  he  has  in  his 
view  chiefly  the  northern  parts  of  Arabia,  and  of  Egypt ;  the 


Another  example  of  the  power  of  climate  to 
change  the  complexion,  and  even  to  introduce  great 
alterations  into  the  whole  constitution,  is  presented 
to  the  view  of  the  philosophic  observer  in  the  native 
population  of  the  United  States.  Sprung,  not  long 
since,  from  the  British,  the  Irish,  and  the  German 
nations,  who  are  the  fairest  people  in  Europe,  they 
have  extended  themselves  over  the  American  conti- 
nent from  the  thirty -first  to  the  forty -fifth  degree  of 
northern  latitude.  And  notwithstanding  the  recent 
period  at  which  the  first  European  establishments 
were  made  in  America  ;  and  the  continual  influx  of 
emigrants  from  the  old  continent,  and  their  frequent 
intermarriages  with  the  native  Anglo-Americans ; 
and,  what  is  of  not  less  consequence  in  this  question, 
notwithstanding  ideas  of  personal  beauty  derived 
from  their  ancestors  which  they  sedulously  cherish, 
and  which  the  arts  of  civilized  life  have  enabled  them 
to  preserve,  as  far  as  is  possible,  against  the  influence 

Nortli  of  Syria,  and  Soutli  of  Chaldea ;  with  perhaps  a  similar 
limitation  in  Turkey,  and  in  France.  A  tribe  of  Jews,  or  Is- 
raelites has  lately  been  discovered  in  India,  known  by  the  He- 
brew Pentateuch  preserved  among  them  from  immemorial 
time,  to  be  of  the  stock  of  Israel,  who  have  become,  by  a  resi- 
dence of  ages  in  that  climate,  as  black  as  the  natives. 


68 

of  the  climate  ;  yet  have  they  undergone  a  visible 
and  important  change.  A  certain  paleness  of  coun- 
tenance, and  softness  of  feature  in  the  native  Ameri- 
can strikes  a  British  traveller  as  soon  as  he  arrives 
upon  our  shores.  Many  exceptions  there  are ;  but, 
in  general,  the  American  complexion  does  not  exhi- 
bit so  clear  a  red  and  white  as  the  British,  or  the 
German.  And  there  is  a  tinge  of  sallowness  spread 
over  it  which  indicates  the  tendency  of  the  climate 
to  generate  bile.  These  effects  are  more  obvious 
in  the  southern  than  in  the  northern  states.  They 
appear  more  strongly  marked  in  the  low  lands  near 
the  ocean,  than  as  you  approach  the  mountainous  re- 
gions to  the  North  and  West.  And  they  are  much 
more  deeply  impressed  in  the  poorer  classes  of  the 
people  than  in  families  of  easy  fortune  who  enjoy  a 
more  various  and  nutricious  diet,  and  possess  the 
means  at  once  of  improving  their  appearance,  and 
guarding  against  the  unfavourable  influences  of  the 
climate.  The  people  of  New-Jersey,  in  the  low  and 
level  country  between  the  sea,  and  the  extensive 
bay  of  the  river  Delaware,  are  generally  darker  in 
their  complexion,  than  in  those  counties  where  the 
country  rises  into  hills ;  and  considerably  darker  than 
the  inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania,  which  is  every  wh^re 


m 

diversified  widi  hills,  and  frequendy  rises  into  lofty 
mountains.  The  depression  of  the  land  exposes  it 
to  greater  heat ;  and  the  level  surface  of  the  country, 
not  yet  subjected  to  a  high  degree  of  culture,  leaves 
it,  in  many  places,  covered  with  stagnant  waters  that 
impregnate  the  atmosphere  with  unwholesome  ex- 
halations, which  greatly  augment  the  secretion  of 
bile.  The  increased  heat  of  the  sun  in  the  low 
lands  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  near  the  coasts  of 
the  ocean,  and  of  the  wide  bays  which  every  where 
indent  them,  gives  a  visible  heightening  to  the  dark- 
ness of  the  complexion,  especially  in  the  poorest  clas- 
ses of  the  people  who  are  most  exposed  to  the  force  of 
the  climate.  Descending  still  farther  to  the  South, 
along  the  sea  coast  of  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  we 
often  meet  among  the  overseers  of  their  slaves,  and 
their  laborious  poor,  with  persons  whose  complexion 
is  but  a  few  shades  lighter  than  that  of  the  aboriginal 
Iroquois,  or  Cherokees.  Compare  these  men  with 
their  British  ancestors,  and  the  change  which  has  al- 
ready passed  upon  them,  will  afford  the  strongest 
gtound  to  conclude  that,  if  they  were  thrown,  like 
our  native  indians,  into  a  state  of  absolute  savagism, 
they  would,  in  no  great  lengdi  of  time,  be  perfectly 


7Q 


marked  with  the  same  complexion.*  Not  only  is 
their  complexion  thus  changed,  but  a  visible  and 
striking  alteration  seems  to  have  been  produced  on 
their  whole  constitution.      So  thin  and  meagre  fre. 


*  Those  rude  woodmen,   on  the  frontiers  of  the  United 
States,  who  live  in  the  vicinity  of  the  inciian  tribes,  ana  who, 
being  frequently  intermingled  with  them,  have  adopted  nearly 
the  same  modes  of  living,  contract,  in  time,  a  great  resem- 
blance to  the  savages,  not  only  in  their  manners,  but  in  their 
colour  and  the  expression  of  the  countenance.     Those  especi- 
ally who  have  irxorporated  tliemselves  witli  any  of  their  tribes, 
conforming  entirely  to  their  customs,  and  habits  of  living,  soon 
acquire  a  surprizing  similarity  to  them  in  their  whole  appear- 
ance.    Of  this  effect  Mr.  Adair  in  his  history  of  the  American 
Indians,  gives  us  a  striking  example  in  an  Anglo-American 
who  had,  in  this  manner,  incorporated  himself  with  the  Shaw- 
anoese  nation.     And  I  have  had  similar  relations  confirmed  t» 
me  by  persons  who  have  had  the  best  opportunities  of  making 
observations  on  these  adopted  children  of  the  savage  tribes. 
"  At  the  Shawanoe  main  camp,  says  he,  I  saw  a  Pennsylvanian, 
a  white  man  by  birth,  and  in  profession  a  christian,  who  by  the 
inclemency  of  the  sun,  and  his  endeavours  to  improve  the  red 
colour,  was  tarnished  with  as  deep  an  indian  hue  as  any  of  the 
camp,  although   he  had  been  in  the  woods  only  four  years." 
Adair  Hist.  Amer.  Ind.  p.  3,4. — I  follow  this  extract  with  the 
remark  of  the  ingenious  and  judicious  Dr.  Barton  of  Philadel- 
phia :  "  If  these  remarkable  changes  are  wrought  on  the  system 
in  the  term  of  a  few  years,  we  ought  not  to  be  surprized  at 
seeing  even  the  most  opposite  tints  and  features  produced  from 
the  long  and  permanent  operation  of  physical,   and  of  moral 
causes."  .  But  I  will  add  that,  probably,  the  Anglo-Americans 
will  never  degenerate  Lnto  a  perfect  resemblance  of  the  abori- 


71 

quently  are  they  in  their  persons,  that  their  limbs 
seem  to  have  a  disproportioned  length  to  the  body ; 
and  the  figure  of  the  skeleton  appears  often,  very 
distinctly,  through  the  skin.    If  these  men,  unmixed 
with  others  whose  state  in  society  enables  them  to 
cnjov   in  greater  abundance  the  conveniences    and 
comforts  of  livir  g,  and  consequently  the  means  of 
preserving   themselves  from    the  deteriorating  im- 
pressions of  the  climate,,  had  been  found  in  a  dis- 
tant region  where  no  memory  of  their  origin  remain- 
ed,  they  would  have  furnished  to  the  advocates  of 
different  species  belonging  to  the  human   kind,  an 
example  as  strong,  and  as  much  to  the  purpose  of 
their  argument,  as  most  of  those  on  which  they  now 
rely  with  the  greatest  confidence. 

In  general,  the  habit  of  the  Anglo-Americans  is 
more  slender  than  that  of  the  natives  of  Great- Bri- 


ginal  Indians.  The  arts  of  civilization  may  be  expected,  in  a 
considerable  degree,  to  correct  the  effects  of  the  climate.  Even 
if  they  should  novk^  smk  into  a  state  of  savagism,  perhaps  the 
resemblance  might  not,  in  every  pomt,  be  complete ;  be- 
cause the  one  would  receive  the  impressions  of  the  climate  on 
the  ground  of  features  formed  in  Europe,  and  in  a  high  state  of 
civiliziition  ;  the  others  have  received  them  on  the  ground  of 
fea:u!es  fomcd  in  a  very  different  region  of  the  globe,  and  in 
a  much  ruder  state  of  society.  Such  differences  in  the  combi- 
nations must  necessarily  vary  somewhat  the  results. 


72 

tain  or  Ireland,  from  whom  the  greater  part  of  our 
population  is  descended.  But  the  extremely  meagre 
aspect  of  that  class  to  which  I  refer,  may  arise  from 
their  situation,  which  exposes  them  more  to  the  un- 
mitigated influences  of  a  climate  that  is,  at  present, 
very  unhealthy  from  the  intensity  of  its  heat  acting 
on  the  great  quantity  of  its  stagnant  waters  and  in- 
fecting the  atmosphere,  during  the  hot  season,  with 
putrid  exhalations.  And,  I  have  before  remarked, 
that  the  changes  created  in  the  human  constitution 
by  migrating  from  dry,  to  moist  regions,  and  from 
temperate  to  very  warm  latitudes,  are,  in  the  first 
instance  generally  diseases.  Hereafter,  when  the 
constitution  shall  become  more  accommodated  to 
the  climate,  as  it  may,  in  time,  adapt  itself  to  any 
situation  on  the  globe,  these  people  will  present  to 
tlie  eye  a  less  haggard,  and  diseased  appearance ; 
but  they  will  probably  forever  exhibit  a  very  thin 
and  meagre  habit  of  body,  and  a  very  swarthy  hue. 

Examples  taken  from  the  descendants  of  Europe- 
ans in  America  are  the  stronger  because  the  climate 
has  not  yet  had  time  to  impress  upon  them  its  full 
character.  And  the  change  which  will  ultimately 
be.  produced  in  the  American  constitution  has  been 


73 

retarded,  not  only  by  the  arts  of  civilized  society,* 
but  by  the  continual  intermixture  of  new  colonies  of 
emigrants  from  Europe  with  the  natives  of  the 
country. 

To  those  who  have  surveyed  this  subject  in  a 
hasty  and  superficial  manner,  these  changes  may 
appear  to  advance  more  slowly  to  their  ultimate 
point  than  is  consistent  with  the  principles  hitherto 
laid  down.  But  it  will  be  recollected  that  all  national 
changes,  whether  moral  or  physical,  usually  advance 
by  almost  imperceptible  gradations,  f      Many  cen- 


*  In  savage  life  men  more  easily  receive  the  impressions  of 
the  climate  than  in  civilized  society,  because  they  are  exposed 
to  its  full  force  without  any  means  of  defence.  Indeed,  what- 
ever art  they  possess  is  usually  employed,  not  in  defending 
themselves  from  its  influences,  but  in  heightening  the  dark 
colour  of  the  skin.  But  independently  on  the  application  of 
any  art,  the  same  consequences  would  result,  in  a  degree,  from 
the  extreme  neglect  and  filthiness  of  their  persons. 

t  It  deserves  to  be  remarked  that  the  natives  of  the  West- 
India  islands,  even  of  those  settled  by  the  English  and  Danes, 
and  the  fairest  European  nations,  are  already  become  very  dark 
in  their  complexion,  and  approaching  to  a  copper  hue,  although 
three  centuries  have  not  yet  elapsed  since  those  settlements 
were  first  established.  The  descendants  of  the  Spaniards  in 
South- America  are  become  absolutely  copper  coloured.  [See 
Phil.  Trans,  of  Roy.  Soc.  Lond.  No. 476.  Sect.  4.]     The  Per- 

1 


74 

turics  elapsed  before  Europe  was  able  to  raise 
herself  to  her  present  refinement,  from  the  rudeness 
of  barbarian  manners  which  overspread  that  portion 
of  the  globe  after  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire. 
Perhaps  riot  less  time  may  be  required  to  pass 
through  all  the  changes  which,  from  different  cau- 
ses, may  affect  the  countenance  and  corporal  form 
and  appearance  of  a  whole  people  ; — to  receive  the 
impressions  of  climate  on  successive  generations  till 
it  has  attained  its  utmost  operation  ; — to  combine 
these  with  the  effects  which  result  from  the  state  of 
society  ;  to  blend  both  with  personal  peculiarities ; 
and,  by  the  almost  infinite  unions  of  families,  to 
melt  down  the  whole  into  those  features,  combined 


tuguese  of  Mitomba,  in  Sierra  Leona,  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
have,  by  intermanying  with  the  natives,  and  adopting  their 
manners,  become,  in  a  few  generations,  so  assimilated  to  them 
in  figure,  and  complexion,  that  hardly  can  they  any  longer  be 
distinguished.  [Treatise  on  the  trade  of  Great-Britain  to  Af- 
rica, by  an  African  Merchant.]  And  Lord  Kaims  affirms  of 
another  Portuguese  settlement  on  the  coast  of  Congo,  that  the 
descendants  of  those  Europeans  have  become  both  in  their  per- 
sons and  their  manners,  more  like  beasts  than  like  men.  [Pre- 
lim. Disc,  to  the  Sketches  on  Man.]  These  examples  indicate, 
with  no  small  degree  of  evidence,  how  easily  climate  would 
assimilate,  in  a  great  degree,  any  foreign  people  to  the  natives 
of  any  country,  in  the  course  of  time,  if  they  would  adopt  thr 
same  manners, tind  equally  expose  themselves  to  its  influence. 


•  I 


75 

with  that  complexion,  and  peculiar  expression, 
which  go  to  form  what  is  called  a  national  counte- 
nance.  It  is  even  questionable  whether  any  nation  in 
Europe,  in  consequence  of  the  eternal  migrations 
and  conquests  which  have  mingled  and  confounded 
its  inhabitants  with  the  natives  of  other  regions, 
yet  exhibits  the  entire  effect  of  all  these  causes,  so 
far,  at  least,  that  they  may  not  still  be  susceptible 
of  further  change.  China  and  Arabia  are,  perhaps, 
the  only  civilized  countries  in  the  world  in  which 
climate  combined  with  manners,  have  attained  their 
utmost  operation  on  the  human  constitution ;  because 
they  are  the  only  countries  in  which  the  inhabitants 
have  been  able,  during  a  long  succession  of  ages,  to 
preserve  themselves  unmixed  with  any  other  people, 
and  to  persevere  in  the  same  habits  of  life.  Each  par- 
allel of  latitude  is,  among  them,  distinctly  marked 
with  its  characteristic  complexion.  In  no  other 
country  is  there  such  a  regular  gradation  of  colour  as 
is  traced  from  the  fair  natives  of  Pekin*  to  the  in- 


*  The  Tartars,  who  have  more  than  once,  within  the  mem- 
ory of  history,  dethroned  the  reigning  family  at  Pekin,  and  es- 
tablished a  new  dynasty  in  the  empire  of  China,  form  no  pro- 
per exception  to  this  remark.  The  Tartars,  though  they 
eh^ged  the  dynasty,  made   no  alteration  in  the  frame  of  the 


76 

habitants  of  Canton,  who  are  of  a  dark  copper ;  or 
from  the  dark  oUve  or  swarthy  colour  of  the  Desert 
Arabia,  to  the  black  of  the  province  of  Yemen.  («. 
From  these  observations  it  results,  that  the  cau- 
ses of  colour  and  of  other  varieties  in  the  human 
species  have  not  yet  had  their  full  operation  on  the 
inhabitants  of  the  United  States.  Such  an  operation, 
however,  they  have  had  as  affords  a  striking  proof  and 
an  interesting  example  of  the  powerful  influence  of 
climate.* 


government ;  and,  being  few  in  number,  and  chiefly  of  the? 
military  order,  have  had  no  sensible  efTect  on  the  character  of 
the  population.  They  form  a  part  of  the  soldiery  of  the  em- 
pire, or  rather  of  the  guards  of  the  prince ;  they  have  never  be- 
come cultivators  of  the  soil. 

*  The  reader  will  always  bear  in  mind  that  in  i-emarking  ou' 
the  changes  which  have  passed  on  the  Anglo-Americans,  I  have 
in  view  chiefly  the  natives  of  the  second  and  third  generation 
from  their  European  ancestors,  or  even  a  more  distant  posteri- 
ty if  there  be  such.  Although  a  few  exceptions  from  each  re- 
mark may  be  pointed  out,  yet  they  will  not  be  regarded^as  suf- 
ficient to  overthrov/  conclusions  drawn  from  tlie  great  mass  of 
popuU.tion.  They  will  be  rare  among  those  who  have  had  a 
cle.ir  American  descent  by  both  parents  through  two  or  three 
races.  They  will  be  much  more  rare  in  the  low  countries  near 
the  sea,  in  the  middle  and  southern  states,  where  the  climate 
diff'^rs  more  from  that  of  Europe,  than  in  tlie  northern 
portion  of  the  Union,  or.  the  western  counties  of  the  southern 


77 

Before  leaving  the  illustration  of  this  article  it  may- 
contribute  to  confirm  the  doctrine  of  the  power  of  cli- 
mate to  affect  the  human  complexion,  to  point  out,  in 
a  few  instances,  its  operation  on  the  colour  of  the  in- 
ferior animals.  Analogy  often  affords  a  solid  ground 
of  reasoning.  And,  on  this  subject,  we  may  strength, 
en  our  conclusions  by  analogous  facts  which  are 
known  to  take  place  in  different  species  of  the  animal 
tribes.  It  has  been  remarked  by  several  writers,  that, 
whether  we  ought  to  ascribe  the  effect  to  any  peculiar 
constitution  of  the  atmosphere,  or  to  the  manner  of 
feeding,  swine,  in  the  province  of  Normandy  in 
France,  arc  universally  white  ;  in  Suabia  in  Germa- 
ny, on  the  other  hand,  they  are  every  where  black  ; 
while  they  are  seen  only  of  a  chesnut  brown  in 
Bavaria.  Cattle  of  the  beeve  kind  are  in  Hungary 
of  a  whitish  grey  ;  which  is  likewise  the  case  in  the 
northern  parts  of  Syria  ;  except,  that  the  Syrian 
cattle  are  whiter  than  the  Hungarian.     In  the  coun- 


slates,  -where  the  country  rises  into  high  hills,  and  is  diversifi- 
ed with  ranges  of  lofty  motintdins.  Here  the  character  of  the 
climate  is  less  removed  from  that  of  Britain,  or  of  the  middle 
of  Europe.  And  in  the  western  parts  of  the  middle  and  south- 
cm  states  the  population  is  more  mingled  with  recent  emi« 
grants  from  Ireland  and  Germany. 


78 

try  of  Angora  in  the  centre  of  the  Lesser  Asia,  the 
goats  are  of  a  beautiful  milk  white  colour,  the  hair 
over  the  whole  body  being  remarkably  fine  and  dis- 
posed in  long  spiral  ringlets.*  It  is  now  well 
known  to  every  voyager,  that,  in  the  climates  in 
which  extreme  cold  prevails,  foxes,  bears,  hares, 
even  falcons,  crows,  and  several  other  birds  and 
beasts  are  generally  found  of  a  white  colour.  And 
that  this  eifect  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  prevailing 
cold  of  the  climate  is  rendered  the  more  certain, 
because,  in  those  regions  posited  a  little  farther  to 
the  South,  in  which  the  moderate  warmth  of 
summer,  during  a  few  months  replaces  the  ex- 
cessive rigors  of  winter,  these  animals  change  the 
colour  of  their  feathers,  and  their  furs  in  the  respec- 
tive seasons.  On  the  other  hand,  Beekman,t  and 
other  navigators  assert  that  on  the  coasts  of  Guinea, 
and  in  various  districts  of  the  torrid  zone  of  Africa, 
many  of  their  domestic  animals,  and  particularly  their 
dogs,  and  common  poultry,  as  well  as  the  human 
inhabitants,  are  uniformly  black. 

*  This  is  the  material  of  which  our  finest  camlets  are  madcr 
t  His  voyage  to  and  from  Borneo,  Lond.  4718. 


70 

If,  then,  in  animals  acknowledged  to  be  of  the 
same  species,  we  perceive  such  differences  of 
colour,  created  by  the  climate,  or  region  in  which 
they  exist,  why  should  we  not  equally  admit 
its  power  on  the  complexion  of  man?  This 
ground  of  reasoning  is  conformable  to  princi- 
ples which  have  been  universally  received  in  the 
philosophic  world,  on  subjects  of  natural  science, 
since  the  age  of  Newton.  Of  natural  effects  of  the 
same  kind,  the  same,  or  like  causes,  ought  to  be 
assigned,  as  far  as  possible. — And  more  causes  ought 
not  to  be  accumulated  in  explaining  the  phenomena 
of  nature  than  are  sufficient  to  account  for  them, 
and  are  supported  by  clear  experiment,  or  by  obvi- 
ous analogy. 

Hitherto  the  facts  which  have  been  adduced,  and 
the  reasonings  founded  upon  them,  have  tended 
chiefly  to  explain  the  principle  of  colour  and  to  ac- 
count for  the  varieties  of  complexion,  in  differ- 
ent portions  of  the  human  race ;  and,  in  the  first 
place,  to  demonstrate  the  influence  of  climate  on 
these  affections  of  the  skin.  I  proceed  now  to  illus- 
trate its  power  in  giving  existence  to  other  varieties, 
Avhich  distinguish  different  nations. 


80 

It  would  be  difficult,  as  it  is  unnecessary,  to  enter 
into  a  very  particular  description  of  every  part  of  the 
human  body,  or  even  every  feature  of  the  human 
countenance,  and  to  trace  each  change  of  which  they 
are  susceptible  to  their  respective  causes.  If  we 
are  able  satisfactorily  to  account  for  the  principal 
changes,  a  reasonable  and  candid  enquirer  after  truth 
ought  to  remain  satisfied  that  all  minuter  ones  are 
within  the  power  of  the  same  or  similar  causes,  with- 
out having  recourse  to  the  superfluous,  and,  conse- 
quently, unphilosophical  doctrine  of  different  origin- 
al species  of  men.  I  shall,  therefore,  confine  my 
observations,  principally,  to  those  conspicuous  vari- 
eties which  are  seen  in  the  hair, — ^the  figure  of  the 
head, — the  proportions  of  different  parts  of  the  body, 
— and  in  the  features  of  the  face. 

The  colour  of  the  hair  generally  follo^vs  the  law  of 
rhe  complexion;*  because,  its  roots,  being  planted  in 

"  There  arc  insLauces  in  the  southern  states  of  America  and 
jn  the  West-Indies  of  white  children  derived  from  black  pa- 
rents of  the  darkest  African  hue.  There  are  also  instances  of 
pied  negroes,  whose  skin  is  variegated  with  black  and  white 
spots,  some  from  their  birth,  and  others  who  have  changed 
Uicir  colour  at  diftcrent  ages.  But  wherever  this  colour  has 
affected  the  skin  of  the  head  beneath  the  hair,  the  colour  of  the 
Ivair  has  been  changed  with  it.     Dr.  Blumenbach  mentions  a 


81 

^he  skin,  derive  its  nourishment,  and  its  colour  from 
the  same  secretion  which  there  contributes  princi- 
pally to  form  the  tint  of  that  various  covering  of  the 
body.  Every  gradation  of  shade  in  the  skin  is 
usually  accompanied  with  some  correspondent  shades 
in  the  hair.  The  pale  red,  and  sandy  complexion, 
on  the  other  hand,  or  the  sandy  spotted  with  dark 
orange  freckles,  is  almost  always  connected  with  a 
proportional  redness  of  this  excrescence.  Between 
these  two  points  is  found  almost  every  other  colour 
of  the  hair  arising  from  the  mixture,  in  different  pro- 
portions, of  the  principles  which  constitute  the  black 
and  red.  White  hair,  except  that  which  is  occasion- 
ed by  disease,  or  age,  is  commonly  united  with  the 
palest  skin.  White  appears  to  be  the  ground  on 
which  the  colouring  substances  of  the  red  and  black 
are  variously  stained.     These,    which   may  be  re- 


black  man  whom  he  saw  in  London,  [p.  150.  §  48.]  who  after 
the  period  of  adolescence  became  pied.  The  white  colour 
affecting  an  angular  spot  in  the  fore  part  of  his  head,  from  the 
crown  to  the  forehead,  the  hair  on  that  portion  of  the  skin  as- 
sumed a  yellowish  colour. 

Another  example  has  been  mentioned  in  a  note  at  the  36th 
page  of  this  essay  in  a  young  negro  of  sandy  complexion  with 
ved  wool.  , 

K. 


82 

gardcd  as  extremes,  seem  nearly  to  approach  each 
other  ;  and,  by  a  very  small  alteration  of  the  secre- 
tions of  the  body,  easily  to  pass  into  one  another.* 
If,  in  a  red  or  black  haired  family,  a  child  happens 
to  deviate  from  the  law  of  the  house,  it  is  commonly 
to  the  opposite  extreme.  The  Highlanders,  who 
inhabit  the  hills  in  the  North  of  Scotland,  are  divid- 
ed between  these  two  colours.  And  a  red  beard 
is  not  unfrequently  joined  with  black  hair. 

On  these  facts  it  deserves  to  be  remarked,  that 
those  philosophers  who  deny  the  identity  of  the  ori- 
gin of  different  nations,   because  one  is  black,   and 


*  J.  R.  Foster,  in  his  remarks  on  the  inhabitants  of  tlie 
South-Sea  islands  observes  that  among  the  Otaheitans  we 
sometimes  meet  with  red  hair,  though  black  is  the  habit  of  the 
island.  Other  voyagers  have  made  the  same  remark  on  the 
people  of  Timor,  the  Papuans,  and  even  en  the  inhabitants  of 
Congo  in  Africa.  Mr.  Bruce  found  several  instrjices  of  red 
or  yellow  hair  among  the  Galla  tribes  in  Abyssinia  ;  and 
Cluirlevoix  informs  us  that  such  instances  also  exist  among  the 
Esquimaux.  The  young  man  mentioned  in  tlie  last  rote  who 
was  of  a  fair  and  sandy  complexion  though  born  of  black  pa- 
rents, may  be  given  as  ijiother  example  to  the  same  purpose. 
And,  in  general,  we  see  that  those  persons  both  in  Europe  and 
America,  who  are  distinguished  by  the  redest  complexion  of 
the  hair,  have  also  many,  and  very  dark  colovired  freckles  scat- 
tered over  the  whole  surface  of  the  skin;  and  especially  in  those 
parts  which  are  most  exposed  to  the  sun  and  air. 


83 

another  is  red,  might,  on  the  same  ground,  deny 
identity  of  origin  to  the  children  of  the  same  famiiy.* 
From  such  examples,  at  least,  we  derive  a  practical 
proof,  that  there  is  in  human  nature  a  susceptibility 


*  The  argument  that  diffei'cnce  of  colour  does  not  demon- 
strate diversity  of  origin,  is  still  more  strongly  established  by 
the  fact  mentioned  in  the  last  note  of  pied  negroes  descending 
from  black  parents,  not  unfrequently  to  be  met  with,  i,rid  noe 
strongly  still  by  such  examples  as  that  of  Hem y  Moss,  referred, 
to  in  pages  92  and  93,  who  from  a  perfectly  biack  man  became 
entirely  white,  without  any  disease,  or  exhibiting  the  least 
symptom  of  scrophulous  or  albino  whiteness.  These^and 
similar  facts,  which  we  find  recorded  in  various  literary  rei^is- 
ters  of  the  greatest  credit,  indicate  that  the  black,  or  the  white, 
the  brown  or  the  fdr  complexion  may  depend,  in  a  great  de- 
gree, on  the  peculiar  action  of  the  fine  vessels  in  the  skin 
which  are  affected  by  various  causes  in  dilferent  persons,  or  at 
different  times,  by  which,  in  one  case,  they  may  be  more  dis- 
posed, than  in  another,  to  secrete,  and,  at  its  approach  to  the 
oxygen  of  the  atmosphere,  to  precipitate  and  deposit  in  the  re- 
ticular membrane,  that  carbonaceous  substance  which  has  be- 
fore been  shewn,  in  many  instances,  to  mingle  copiously  in  the 
circulation,  and,  to  form,  at  the  surface,  one  of  the  chief  cau- 
ses of  the  various  dark  shades  of  the  human  complexion.  This 
peculiar  action  of  the  minute  vessels  of  the  skin  nitty  sometimes 
be  different  in  one  part  of  the  body  from  that  of  those  in  ano- 
tlier,  and  produce  that  pied  appearance  which  is  obseived  in 
some  negroes  ;  and  which  has  been  seen  also  in  seme  prisons 
originally  white.  It  may  be  very  different  in  the  same  person 
at  different  times  ..ccording  to  the  sti.te  of  the  body.  The  his- 
tory of  medicine  furnishes  a  variety  of  histv.r.ces,  especially  of 
women  during  a  state  of  pregnancy,  who,  in  particular  parts  of 


84 

of  great  varieties  which  may  be  incorporated  into 
the  constitutions  of  families,  and  of  nations,  without 
impairing  any  of  the  essential  properties  of  the  spe- 
'cies.  And  I  may  here  be  permitted  to  anticipate  an 
observation  which,  perhaps,  would  come  with  more 
force  after  having  considered  other  distinctiA^e  pro- 
perties which  discriminate  the  various  tribes,  or  races 
of  men ;  but  which  will  be  of  use  to  be  borne  in  mind 
through  every  stage  of  the  following  illustration.  If 
we  have  reason,  from  the  varieties,  in  the  midst  of 
resemblance,  which  are  often  seen  to  exist  in  the 
same  family,  or  the  same  tribe,  and  which  are  not 
less  than  those  which  discriminate  the  Danes,  the 


the  body,  and  sometimes  in  the  whole  person,  have  become 
much  more  dark  in  their  complexion  ;  and  of  some  who  have, 
in  that  state,  become  absolutely  black  ;  but  have  returned,  after 
they  were  relieved  of  their  infant  load,  to  the  original  fairness  of 
their  skin.  De  nos  jours  une  parielle  metamorphose  s'est  re- 
nouvelle  annuUement  dans  la  personne  d'une  dame  de  distinc- 
tion d'un  beau  teint,  et  d'une  peau  fort  blanche.  Des  qu'elle 
etoit  enceinte,  eile  commen^oit  a  brunir,  et  vers  la  fin  de  sa 
grossessc  elle  devenoit  une  veritable  jVegresse.  Apres  ses 
couches  la  couleur  noire  disparoissoit  peu  a  peu,  sa  premiere 
blancheur  revenoit,  et  son  fruit  n'avoit  aucune  teinte  de  noir.— . 

Bomare,  apud  Blum.    156. Et  le  Cat  loc.  eod. — Une  pay- 

sanne  des  environs  de  Paris,  nourrice  de  son  metier,  a  regu- 
lierement  le  ventre  tout  noire  a  chaque  grossesse,  et  cette 
couleur  se  dissipe  par  I'accouchement. 


m 

French,  the  Turks,  and  even  nations  more  remote 
from  one  another,  to  conclude  that  all  these  people 
have  originally  sprung  from  one  stock,  and  belong 
to  the  same  species,  have  we  not  equal  reason  to 
conclude  that  the  nations  beyond  them  to  the  North, 
the  Eajst,  and  the  South,  and  who  do  not  differ  from 
the  last  by  more  conspicuous  distinctions  than  the 
last  differ  from  the  first,  belong,  likewise,  to  the 
same  species  ?  By  pursuing  this  progression  we 
shall  find  but  one  species  from  the  equator  to  the 
poles.* 

The  hair,  and  that  excrescence  which  is  analogous 
to  it,  called  wool,  is,  in  all  animals,  greatly  affected 
by  the  temperature  of  the  climate.  Widely  different 
is  the  coarse  black  shag  of  the  American  bear,  from 
the  fine  white  fur  of  the  same  animal  under  the  ex- 
treme  rigor  of  the  climate  of  Greenland.     The  bea- 


*  Men  frequently  deceive  tliemselves  upon  this  subject  by 
bringing  together  at  once  the  most  distant  extremes,  without 
patiently  tracing  the  intermediate  gri  des  which,  in  every  step 
of  the  progression,  touch  upon  one  another.  The  extremes 
surprize  us  by  their  dissimilarity  :  but,  passing  along  the  mi- 
nute gradations  which  serve  to  reunite  them,  the  mind  per- 
ceives in  this  wide  difference  merely  the  result  of  the  actions  of 
the  same  physical  laws  in  successive  climates,  or  positions  of 
■-he  human  race. 


86 

ver,  removed  from  the  frozen  regions  of  Upper  Can- 
ada to  the  warm  latitude  of  southern  Louisiana,  ex- 
changes its  delicate  fur,  for  a  much  harsher  substance 
which  preserves  the  body  of  the  animal  in  a  more 
comfortable  temperature.  A  similar  change  has 
been  observed  to  take  place  on  the  wool  of  sheep 
removed  from  Europe,  or  the  United  States,  to  the 
islands  of  the  West-Indies.  A  sheep  taken  from 
the  rich  pasture,  and  the  cool  but  temperate  climate 
of  England  to  the  parched  and  arid  coast  of  Africa, 
soon  exchanges  its  fine  warm  and  involved  fleece 
for  a  coat  of  hair  nearly  as  straight  and  coarse  as 
that  of  the  camel,  which  fits  the  creature  to  bear  the 
ardors  of  a  sun,  that  would  be  otherwise  intolerable. 
Yet,  no  philosopher  imagines  that  these  varieties  are 
indicative  of  a  difference  of  species  :  but  all  who  are 
acquainted  with  the  powers  of  nature  easily  perceive 
that  the  Creator  has  adapted  the  pliancy  of  his  work 
to  meet  the  various  situations  in  which  he  may  have 
destined  it  to  exist. 

The  fineness  and  density  of  the  hairy,  or  woolly 
covering  of  most  animals  found  in  different  regions, 
is  increased  in  proportion  to  the  intensity  and  pre- 
dominance of  cold.  Hence  the  excellence  of  Cana- 
dian and  Russian  furs,  and  the  fineness  of  the  wool 


87 

of  the  sheep  of  Thibet.*  Cold,  by  contracting  the 
pores  of  the  skin,  renders  the  hair  of  a  finer  diame- 
ter and  texture;  and,  by  the  same  cause,  collecting 
at  the  surface  a  greater  quantity  of  the  perspirable 
matter,  which,  in  warm  climates,  passes  ofi  by  trans- 
piration, it  forms  a  more  abundant  nutriment  of  this 
excrescence,  and  is  there  converted  into  a  coat  of 
increased  density,  as  well  as  fineness. 

The  colour  of  the  hair  we  have  likewise  seen  to 
be,  in  many  instances,  affected  by  the  temperature 
of  the  climate.  The  bear  becomes  white  beneath 
the  arctic  circle.  And  black  foxes  are  found  only  in 
the  coldest  latitudes.  And  when  we  contemplate 
the  varieties  of  the  human  race,  we  frequently  see 
nations  distinguished  from  one  another  by  some  pe- 
culiar quality  of  this  excrescence.  The  hair  of  the 
Danes  is  generally  red,  of  a  lighter  or  deeper  shade. 


*  Sheep  with  a  fine  wool  are  sometimes  reared  in  the  middle 
latitudes  of  the  temperate  zone,  but  it  is  only  in  countries  of  a 
very  mountainous  face  which  present  a  mild  and  cool  region 
©n  the  sides  and  sunmiits  of  their  hills.  And  although  Thibet, 
Avhich  produces  such  fine  wool,  might  be  regarded,  from  its  la- 
titude, as  belonging  to  the  wurmer  regions  of  the  temperate 
zone,  yet  by  the  elevation  of  its  surfcice  consisting  chiefly  of 
bleak  mountains,  whence  issue  rivers  of  vast  extent,  and  of 
rapid  course,  it  buF.rs  a  vigor  of  climate  equal  to  that  which 
prevails  many  degrees  farther  to  the  North. 


3a 

That  of  the  French  is  commonly  black.  And  the 
most  frequent  colours  among  the  English  are  fair, 
and  brown.  Among  the  Highlanders  of  Scotland, 
the  predominant  complexions  are  black  and  red. 
Red  hair  is,  likewise,  frequently  seen  in  the  cold  and 
elevated  regions  of  the  Alps,  while  black  prevails  in 
the  warm  vallies  at  the  foot  of  those  mountains; 
except  along  the  northern  frontier  where  it  borders 
the  German  empire.  The  aboriginals  of  America, 
like  all  people  of  colour,  have  universally  black  hair, 
which  is  straight  and  grows  in  a  thick  coat  upon  the 
head.  Black  is  that  colour  of  the  human  hair  which 
is  most  frequent ;  because  those  climates  which  are 
most  favourable  to  the  multiplication  of  the  species, 
tend  also  to  create  different  shades  of  the  dark  com- 
plexion. Nations  which  are  not  naturally  distin- 
guished by  any  peculiar  colour  of  this  excrescence, 
but  have  it  diversified  by  different  tints  and  shades, 
generally  incline  to  the  fair  complexion.  The  great 
variety  in  the  hair  which  is  seen  in  England  may, 
in  some  degree,  be  ascribed  to  the  uncommon  mix- 
ture of  nations  which  has  taken  place  in  that  beau- 
tiful and  inviting  island,  either  from  early  migrations 
to  it,  or  from  the  successive  conquests  to  which  it 
has  been  subject. 


Put  that  form  of  it  which  principally  attracts  our 
attention,  is  the  sparse,  coarse,  and  involved  sub- 
stance like  wool,  which  covers  the  head  of  the  tro- 
pical African.  This  peculiarity  has  been  urged  as  a 
decisive  character  of  a  distinct  species  with  more  as- 
surance than  became  philosophers  but  tolerably  ac- 
quainted with  the  operations  of  nature.  The  sparse- 
ness,  and  coarsness  of  the  African  hair,  or  wool,  is 
analogous  to  effects  which  we  have  already  seen  to  be 
produced  by  the  temperature  of  arid  climates  upon 
other  animals. — Its  involution  may  be  occasioned,  in 
part,  by  the  excessive  heat  of  a  vertical  sun  acting 
upon  sands  which  glow  with  an  ardor  unknown  in 
any  other  quarter  of  the  globe.*  But,  probably,  it  is 
occasioned  chiefly  by  some  peculiar  quality  of  the 
secretion  by  which  it  is  nourished,  t     That  the  curl, 


*  According  to  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Bruce,  and  other  travel- 
lers, in  the  sandy  deserts  of  Africa  the  sands  appear  frequently 
to  burn,  and  to  emit  a  blueish  flame  destructive  to  life,  unless  a 
man,  perceiving  its  approach,  instantly  falls  upon  his  face  and 
scraping  a  deep  hole  in  the  sand  breathes  below  the  surface 
while  it  is  passing. 

t  It  is  manifest,  saysBlumenbach,  that  tliere  is  a  strong  sym- 
pathy between  the  liver,  the  labortitory  of  the  bile,  and  the  skin; 
and,  as  the  influence  of  climate  upon  the  secreting  powers  of 
Che  foiTjier  is  very  great,  it  is  proportionally  great  on  the  action 

I, 


90 

tjr  nap  of  the  hair  depends,  in  a  great  degree  upon 
this  cause,  is  rendered  the  more  probable  by  the  ap- 
pearance which  it  exhibits  on  the  chin,  over  the  arm- 
pits, and  other  parts  of  the  human  body.  Whatever 
be  the  nutriment  of  the  hair,  it  would  seem,  by  the 
strong  and  offensive  smell  of  the  African  negro,  to 
be  combined  in  him  with  some  gas,  or  fluid  of  a  very 
volatile  and  ardent  nature.*      The  evaporation  of 


of  the  minute  vessels  of  the  latter  by  which  that  matter  is  sup- 
plied to  the  reticular  membrane  which  becomes  there  tlie  nu- 
triment of  the  hair,  and  according  to  the  qualities  of  this  nutri- 
ment will  the  hair  be  affected  in  its  colour,  and  other  properties. 

*  Certain  volatile  and  saline  secretions  tend  to  curl  and  in- 
volve the  hair.  Viscid  and  glutinous  matters  would  produce 
a  like  effect.  The  strong  smell  of  the  negro,  however,  seems 
to  indicate  the  union  of  sulphur  with  hydrogen  gas,  or  infla- 
mable  air,  and  perhaps  with  an  unusual  proportion  of  phos- 
phorus. These  secretions,  or  at  least  their  quantity  or  pro- 
portions may  depend  on  some  influence  of  the  climate,  or  on  the 
diet  or  habits  of  living  of  the  people,  all  of  which  affect,  as 
already  suggested,  the  action  of  the  minute  vessels  of  the  skin; 
and,  in  some  instances,  perhaps,  may  depend  on  certain  consti- 
tutional peculiarities  of  organization,  as  a  veryoffensive  odour  is 
found  to  issue  from  the  pores  of  the  skin  of  many  white  persons. 
Certain  medicines  of  the  fetid  or  sulphurous  kinds  are,  in  some 
cases,  vei7  sensibly  perceived  by  the  smell  in  the  perspiration  ©f 
persons  who  have  been  long  accustomed  to  use  them.  And 
some  whole  tribes  of  savages  are  distinguished  by  a  peculiar 
and  very  offensive  fetor,  as  is  perceived  in  the  inhabitants  of  the 


such  a  gas  rendering  the  surface  dry,  and  disposed 
to  contract,  while  the  center  continues  distended, 
tends  necessarily  to  produce  an  involution  of  the 
hair.  This  conjecture  receives  some  confirmation 
from  the  fact  that  the  negroes  born  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  and  especially  the  domestic  ser- 
vants, who  are  well  fed  and  clothed,  and  who 
are  bred  in  the  habits  of  all  the  neatness  and  clean- 
liness which  prevails  in  the  mansions  of  their  mas- 
ters, are  gradually  losing  the  offensive  odour  that  is 
perceived  in  most  of  the  natives  of  the  African  zone. 
Their  hair,  or  wool,  at  the  same  time,  is  becoming 
less  involved.  And  many  of  those  of  the  third 
race,  or  who  are  farther  removed  from  their  Afri- 
can ancestors,  and  who  are  careful  in  dressing  it,  fre- 
quently extend  it  in  a  braid  or  queue  of  several 
inches  in  length.* 


southern  point  of  the  American  continent,  arising  from  the  fil- 
thiness  of  their  habits,  the  poverty,  and  wretchedness  of  their 
food,  consisting  chiefly  of  the  rancid  oil  of  seals. 

*  It  is  not  much  to  the  credit  of  the  authors  of  the  critical 
review  in  England  that  this  remark,  in  the  first  ecUtion  of  this 
essay,  should  have  called  fortli  their  contemptuous  smile.  We 
often  see  these  men  at  one  time  receiving  with  childish  creduli- 
ty the  most  ridiculous  and  extravagant  tales  transmitted  by  the 


02 
Another  foct  which  has  occurred  to  my  own  ob- 
serv^ation,  and  which  I  find  likewise  recorded  in  the 
Medical  Repository  of  New- York,  and  is  mentioned 
also  by  Dr.  William  Barton  of  Philadelphia,  demon- 
strates that  the  involution  and  woolly  nature  of  the 
hair  of  the  African  negro  depends,  in  a  great  degree, 
if  not  chiefly,  on  the  quality  of  its  nutriment  in  the 
skin.     Henry  Moss,  a  negro  in  the  state  of  Mary. 
land,  began,  upwards  of  twenty  years  ago  to  under- 
go a  change  in  the  colour  of  his  skin,  from  a  deep 
black,  to  a  clear  and  healthy  white.    The  change  com- 
menced about  the  abdomen,  and  gradually  extend- 
ed over  different  parts  of  the  body,  till,  at  the  end 
of  seven  years,  the  period  at  which  I  saw  him,   the 
white  had  already  overspread  the  greater  portion  of 
his  skin.     It  had  nothing  of  the  appearance  of  a  sick- 
ly or  albino  hue,  as  if  it  had  been  the  effect  of  dis- 
ease.    He  was  a  vigorous  and  active  man  ;  and  had 
never  suffered  any  disease  either  at  the  commence- 


ignorant  travellers  Vv'ho  have  visited  this  country  ;  at  another, 
Vejccting,  with  obstinate  scepticism,  the  most  certain  facts. 
But  who  can  forbear  smiling,  when,  instead  of  the  cause  which 
is  here  assigned  for  the" involution  of  the  hair  of  the  tropical  Af- 
ricans, they  are  pleased  to  ascribe  it  to  the  tortuosity  of  the 
poi'es  in  a  black  skin,  and  the  struggle  of  the  hair  to  push  it^ 
way  through  thcni  -^ 


95 

ment,  or  during  the  progress  of  the  change.  The 
white  complexion  did  not  advance  by  regularly 
spreading  from  a  single  center  over  the  whole  sur- 
face. But  soon  after  it  made  its  first  appearance  on 
the  abdomen,  it  began  to  shew  itself  on  various  parts 
of  the  body,  nearly  at  the  same  time,  whence  it  gra- 
duallv  encroached  in  different  directions  on  the  ori- 
ginal  colour  till,  at  length,  the  black  was  left  only 
here  and  there  in  spots  of  various  sizes,  and  shapes. 
These  spots  were  largest  and  most  frequent,  where 
the  body,  frorn  the  nakedness  of  the  parts  or  the  rag- 
gedness  of  his  clothing,  was  most  exposed  to  the 
rays  of  the  sun.  This  extraordinary  change  did  not 
proceed  by  gradually  and  equably  diluting  the  in- 
tensity of  the  shades  of  the  black  colour  over  the 
whole  person  at  once ;  but  the  original  black,  reduc- 
ed to  spots,  when  I  saw  it,  by  the  encroachments  of 
the  white,  resembled  dark  clouds  insensibly  melting 
away  at  their  edges.  The  back  of  his  hands,  and  his 
face,  retained  a  larger  proportion  of  the  black  than 
other  parts  of  his  body ;  of  these,  however,  the 
greater  portion  was  changed.  And  the  white  colour 
had  extended  itself  to  a  considerable  distance  under 
^he  hair.      Wherever   this  took  place,   the  woolly 


94 

substance  entirely  disappeared,  and  a  fine,    straight 
hair,  of  silky  softness  succeeded  in  its  room.* 
'  *  From  this  history,  the  truth  of  which  is  well  known 
to  great  numbers  of  persons  in  the  middle  states  of 
America,  thro'  which  Henry  Moss  has  travelled,  and 
particularly  to  several  literary  men  of  great  respecta- 
bility, who  have  carefully  examined  the  fact,   result 
two  or  three  inferences  of  no  small  importance  in  this 
enquiry.     In  the  first  place,   that  secretion  in  the 
skin  which  contributes  chiefly  to  the  formation  of  the 
negro  complexion,  seems  to  be  the  chief  cause  also 
of  the  curl,  or  woolly  appearance  of  the  hair:   for, 
wherever   the   white  colour  in  this  man  extended 
beneath  the  hair  there  the  form  of  that  excrescence 


*  The  extraordinary  nature  of  this  phenomenon  strongly 
attracted  the  attention  and  benevolence  of  the  public  ;  and  the 
man  obtained,  from  the  liberality  of  those  who  visited  him,  a 
sum  sufficient  to  purchase  his  freedom,  with  a  surplus  to  be 
applied  afterwards  to  his  own  use.     I  examined  him  in  company 
with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rodgers,  and  John  R.  B.  Rodgers,  M.  D. 
of  New-York,  gentlemen,  than  whom  none  are  more  capable 
of  observing  and  examining  a  fact  of  this  nature  with  a  sound 
and  accurate  judgment.    Shortly  after  this  period  Henry  Moss 
I'emoved  into  the  State  of  Virginia,  since  which  time  I  have 
not  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  him  ;  but  I  have  been  inform- 
ed by  respectable  authority,   that  the  whitening  process  Was 
soon  afterwards  completed,  and  that,  in  his  tippearance,  he  could 
not  be  distinguished  from  a  native  Anglo -An\crican.  ■ 


95 

was  entirely  changed. — In  the  next  place,  although 
there  was  evidently  a  strong  and  general  tendency  in 
the  constitution  of  this  negro  to  a  change  of  colour, 
yet,  this  tendency  was  much  longer  resisted  in  those 
parts  of  the  body  which  were  most  exposed  to  the 
immediate  action  of  the  sun's  rays  than  in  others.^ 
Whence  I  infer  that  where  any  dark  colour  has  been 
contracted  by  the  human  skin,  the  solar  influence 
aior.e,  and  the  free  contact  of  the  external  air,  will  be, 
sufficient  to  continue  it  a  long  time  even  in  those 
climates  which  are  most  favorable  to  the  fair  com- 
plexion.! 

Although  the  principal  cause  of  the  peculiar  ibrm 
of  the  African  hair,  consists  in  those  secretions  which, 
b'ung  deposited  in  the  cells  of  the  skin  become  the 
nutriment  of  this  excrescence,  yet  something  may  be 
ascribed  also  to  the  excessive  ardor  of  that  region  of 
burning  sand.     Africa  is  the  hottest  country  on  the 


*  As  he  was  a  labouring  man,  wherever  there  were  rents 
in  the  thin  clothes  which  covered  him  there  wei*e  generally 
seen  the  largest  spots  of  black. 

t  It  is  found  by  experience  that  different  shades  of  the  dark 
eompiexion  are  easily  impressed  by  different  causes  on  a  skin 
originally  fair,  and  when  once  impressed,  the  slightest  influ- 
ence of  the  same  causes  is  sufficient  to  continue  it. 


96 

globe.  The  ancients  who  frequented  the  Asiatic 
zone  without  fear,  esteemed  the  African  an  uninha- 
bitable zone  of  fire.  And  modern  travellers,  who 
have  explored  the  interior  of  that  continent  with  the 
greatest  intelligence  and  care,  inform  us  that,  although 
along  the  margins  of  the  rivers  Gambia  and  Sene- 
gal, and  for  some  distance  on  each  side,  there  are 
shady  forests  and  a  fertile  soil,  yet  almost  the  whole 
region  embraced  between  the  tropics  is  a  tract  of 
sand  that  often  literally  burns.  This  state,  not  of 
the  atmosphere  only,  but  especially  of  the  earth,  in  the 
dust  of  which  young  savages,  utterly  neglectful  of 
decency  of  manners,  often  roll  themselves,  will  have 
its  effect  in  increasing  the  close  nap  of  the  wool,  for 
the  same  reason  that  a  hair  held  near  a  flame  will  coil 
itself  up,  or  the  leaves  of  vegetables  be  rolled  toge- 
ther under  the  direct  rays  of  an  intense  sun,  A^^hen 
the  earth  is  at  the  same  time  parched  with  drought. 

A  part  of  the  population  of  Borneo,  and  the  whole 
of  that  of  New  Holland,  Mallicollo,  and  other  islands,' 
have  likewise  a  ver}'^  crisped  and  curled  substance 
instead  of  straight  and  long  hair,  but  in  Africa  alone 
do  we  find  that  extremely  short  and  close  nap  which 
distinguishes  the  inhabitants  of  the  western  tropical 
reo;i()!i  of  that   continent.      The    hair    as    well   as 


the  whole  constitution,  suffers,  in  that  region  the  ef- 
fects of  an  intense  fire. 

The  rude  habits  of  an  uncultivated  people  con- 
tribute to  heighten  the  injurious  effects  of  the  cli- 
mate. Being  savages,  they  possess  few  arts  to  pro- 
tect them  from  its  intensity.  Nor  are  they  led  by 
any  refinement  in  their  tastes  of  living,  or  their  ideas 
of  personal  elegance  to  invent  such  arts,  or  to  £  pply 
them,  if  they  were  acquainted  with  them,  to  improve 
their  appearance.  The  African  climate  preserving 
the  life  of  children  without  requiring  those  attentions 
in  the  parent  which  are  necessary  in  colder  regions, 
and  under  a  more  variable  atmosphere,  they  are,  per- 
haps, among  the  most  negligent  people  in  the  world 
of  their  offspring.*     The  character  of  most  nations 

*  If  children,  by  their  own  instincts  and  natural  powers,  or 
by  the  favourable  temperature  and  spontaneous  productions  of 
the  climate,  could  as  soon,  and  as  easily  provide  for  their  safe- 
ty and  subsistence  as  some  of  the  inferior  animals,  and  were  as 
little  dependent  on  the  care  of  the  parent,  parental  attentions 
and  filial  duties  would  both  equally  cease,  and  with  them  all 
the  delicate  ties  of  family  affection.  Civilized  society  could, 
in  that  case,  hardly  ever  have  had  an  existence.  The  African 
savages  approach  neai'er  to  this  state  than  any  other  people  on 
the  globe.  This  is,  perhaps,  the  principal  reason  why  men 
have  always  existed  as  savages  in  the  greater  part  of  the  Afri- 
can continent.     Another  reason,  however,  of  tlus  unfortunate 

M 


I 


is  chiefly  formed  by  their  situation,  their  employ 
ments,    and  the    wants   either  real,    or   factitious, 
which  press  them.     And  it  is  observed  of  every  sav. 
age  people  that,  unless  roused  by  some  violent  pas- 
sion, or  urged  by  some  immediate  want,  they  are  al- 
ways ir  dolent.     The  African  savage  therefore,  is  as 
careless  of  his  children  as  the  American,  compelled 
by  the  severity  of  the  climate,  and  the  hardships  of 
his  state,  is  attentive  to  their  preservation  and  the 
perfection  of  their  form.     They  are  suffered  to  lie  in 
the  dust,  or  ashes  of  their  huts,  or  to  roll  in  the  sand 
before  their  doors  beneath  the  ardent  rays  of  a  ver- 
tical sun.     The  mother,  if  any  other  object  calls  her 
attention,  or  requires  her  labor  while  nursing  her  in- 
fant, lays  it  down  on  the  first  spot  she  finds,  and  sel- 
dom gives  herself  the  trouble  of  seeking  for  it  even 
the  miserable  shelter  of  a  barren  shrub  which  is  al- 
most the  only  shade  that  the  interior  country  af- 
fords.*    This  treatment  will  contribute  at  the  same- 


state  of  human  society  in  that  region  is,  that  there  the  ingenu- 
ity of  men  is  less  called  forth  by  the  necessities  of  their  situa- 
tion ;  and  fewer  relations  are  created  by  mutual  dependence, 
and  the  need  of  mutual  assistance. 

*  I  have  been  witness  of  this  treatment  of  children  by  the 
slaves  in  some  parts  of  the  southern  states  where  tliey  are  suf- 


time  to- scorch  the  hair,  and  to  add  many  shades  to 
the  darkness  of  the  complexion.  And  the  influence 
of  this  cause  is  verified  from  the  following  fact,  that 
the  hair  is  seldom  of  a  deep  and  shining  black,  but 
rather  of  an  adust  colour,  exhibiting  at  its  extremi- 
ties a  brownish  cast  as  if  scorched  by  the  fire. 


ficiently  numerous  to  retain  many  of  their  African  customs, 
and  where  the  necessary  hardships  of  their  state  render  them 
careless  of  the  personal  appearance  of  themselves,  or  their 
children.  I  speak  of  the  field-slaves,  who  living  in  little  villa- 
ges on  their  plantations,  at  a  distance  from  the  mansions  of 
their  masters,  are  slow  in  adopting  the  manners,  and  ideas  of 
their  superiors.  There  I  have  seen  the  mother  of  a  cliild 
within  less  thiui  six  weeks  after  its  birtli,  take  it  with  her  to 
the  field,  and  lay  it  uncovered  on  the  ground  beneath  an  ardent 
sun,  while  she  hoed  her  corn-row  down  and  up.  She  would 
then  suckle  it  a  few  minutes,  and  return  to  her  labor,  leaving 
the  child  in  the  same  exposure,  although  she  might  have  found 
a  convenient  shade  at  the  distance  of  a  few  yards.  Shocked, 
at  first,  with  the  apparent  barbarity  of  such  negligence,  I  have 
remonstrated  against  it,  but  was  always  told  that  dry  sand,  and 
heat  were  never  found  to  hurt  children.  And  indeed  custom, 
will  harden  the  human  constitution  to  almost  any  suffering. 
Besides,  it  is  well  known  that  a  black  or  a  dark  skin  eitlier  from 
its  thickness,  from  some  refrigerating  quality  in  the  substance 
which  contributes  to  its  colour,  or  from  the  relaxation  of  the 
constitution  which  often  accompanies  it,  renders  the  body  more 
patient  of  heat,  and  less  liable  to  inflamation,  than  one  of  fair  and 
florid  complexion.  For  this  reason,  as  well  as  from  their 
greater  temperance,  tlie  French  and  Spaniards  endure  the  heat 
of  a  West-India  svin  better  than  the  British  or  the  Irish,  and  arc 
less  subject,  in  that  climate,  to  inflamatory  disorders. 


100 

Having  t^-^  ed  so  largely  of  the  form  of  this  ex- 
crescence in  those  regions  where  it  deviates  farthest 
from  the  common  law  of  the  species,  I  proceed  to 
consider  other  varieties  of  the  human  person  which 
occur  in  different  portions  of  the  globe. 

The  whole  Tartar  race,  except  a  few  small  tribes 
who  have  probably  migrated  into  that  country  from 
other  regions,  are  of  lower  stature  than  their  southern 
neighbours  on  the  continent  of  Asia,  or  than  the  peo- 
ple of  the  temperate  latitudes  of  Europe.  Their 
heads  are  large  ; — ^t.heir  shoulders  raised  ; — and  their 
necks  short ; — their  eyes  are  small,  and  appear,  by 
the  great  projection  of  the  eye-brows,  to  be  sunk  in 
the  head , — the  nose  is  short,  and  is  not  so  promi- 
nent as  the  same  feature  in  the  Europeans  ;  the  cheek 
is  elevated ;  the  face,  somewhat  depressed  in  the 
middle,  and  spread  out  toward  the  sides ; — and  the 
whole  appearance  and  expression  of  the  counte- 
nance is  harsh  and  uncouth.  All  these  deformities 
are  aggravated  as  we  proceed  towards  the  pole,  in 
the  Lapoiiian,  Borandian,  and  Samoiede  races, 
which,  as  Buffon  justly  remarks,  are  only  Tartars 
reduced  to  the  last  degree  of  degeneracy.  A  race 
of  men  resembling  the  Laplandc^rs  in  many  of  their 
lineaments  and  qualities,  is  found  iu  a  similar  cli- 


101 

mate  in  America.  The  frozen  countries  round 
Hudson's  bay  are  as  cold  as  Lapland  or  Kamt- 
schatka.  The  few  wretched  natives  who  inhabit 
these  inhospitable  regions  do  not  exceed  five  feet  in 
height, — their  heads  are  large, — ^theireyes  are  small 
and  weak, — and  their  hands  and  feet  remarkably  di- 
minutive.* 

These  effects  are  natural  consequences  of  the  ex- 
treme cold  of  their  climate,  combined  with  the  hard- 
ships to  which  they  are  necessarily  exposed  in  thosc- 
frozen  and  sterile  regions,  from  the  deficiency,  and 
poverty  of  their  food,  and  their  total  want  of  every 
art  by  which  they  might  protect  themselves  from 
the  rigors  of  a  polar  winter.  A  moderate  tempera- 
ture of  climate  contributes  to  give  tone  and  vigor  to 
the  body,  and  to  expand  it  to  the  largest  volume. 


*  These  wretched  and  feeble  people,  although  they  have  a 
♦real  affinity  in  their  appearance  with  the  Laponians  and  the 
Grcenlanders,  are,  however,  still  more  degenerate,  arising 
perhaps  from  their  more  wretched  means  of  subsistence. 
Some  savage  tribes  very  similar  in  their  appearance  have  been 
discovered  in  the  high  northern  latitudes  on  the  western  coast 
of  this  continent,  and  in  the  islands  lying  in  those  seas  which 
divide  the  continents  of  America  and  Asia  where  they  ap- 
proach nearest  to  one  another.  They  will  probably  be  found 
hereafter  to  extend  entirely  across  the  American  continent  ia 
those  latitudes. 


102 

Extreme  cold  produces  a  contrary  effect ;  and  the  ani. 
mal  system  under  the  constriction  of  perpetual  frost, 
is  irregularly  checked  in  its  growth.     The  intense 
rigor  of  the  climate,  by  overstraining  the  constitution 
produces  indirect  debility,  in  those  parts  especially, 
which,    being   farthest  removed  from  the   seat  of 
warmth,  and  source  of  circulation  in  the  heart,  are, 
consequently,  most  affected  by  its  influence.    Hence 
the  hands,  and  lower  limbs  suffer  the  greatest  con- 
traction from  the  cold.     The  debility  of  these  poor 
savages  is  greatly  increased,  likewise,  by  the  poverty 
and  scantiness  of  tlieir  diet,  which  occasions  the 
blood  to  circulate   with  a  feeble  and  languid  mo- 
tion to  the  extremities.     But,    flowing   with    more 
warmth,  and  acting  with  a  stronger  impulse  in   the 
head  and  breast,  these  parts  of  the  body  are  increas- 
ed in  size  much  beyond  the  proportions  which  they 
usually  bear  in  other  nations  to  the  hands,  feet,  and 
lower  limbs.     In  a  similar  manner,  though  not  in  an 
equal  degree,  the  Tartar  nations  are  affected  by  the 
influence  of  their  inhospitable  sky.     They  are  not  in- 
deed, sunk,  in  general,  into  such  an  abject  state  of 
savagism.     And  the  climate  gradually  relaxes  its 
rigor  from  the  southern  limits  of  the  Samoicde  and 
Borandian  counti'ies  to  Persia  and  Bulgaria.      Tl^ 


Tartars  are  a  taller,  and  a  much  stouter  race  than  the 
Laplanders,  and  the  most  northern  tribes  of  Asiat- 
ics. Some  of  the  Tartar  hordes,  and  particularly  the 
Tschutski  inhabiting  the  north-eastern  extremities 
of  the  Asiatic  continent,  are  said  to  be  distinguished 
from  their  neighbours  by  a  nobler  stature  and  finer 
proportions  of  person.  They  enjoy,  at  the  same 
time,  a  more  civilized  state  of  society.  And,  is  it 
not  probable  that,  in  the  perpetual  migrations  of  that 
roving  people,  some  of  the  southern  clans,  possessing 
more  agreeable,  or  rather,  less  distorted,  features  and 
persons,  may  have  exchanged  habitations  with  the 
ruder  barbarians  of  the  North ;  and  have  been  ena- 
bled, by  their  superior  civilization,  to  defend  them- 
•sehes  against  the  worst  effects  of  that  severe  cli- 
mate ?* 

Other  peculiarities  in  the  appearance  of  the  Tar- 
iter  race,  as  the  elevation  of  their  shoulders,  and  the 


*  The  principles  stated  above  apply  with  little  variation  to 
all  nations  situated  in  very  high  northern  latitudes,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  degree  of  cold  which  prevails  in  them  combined  witli 
the  savage  degeneracy  of  manners,  existing  among  the  people. 
The  cold  b  the  high  latitudes  of  Europe,  it  will  be  recollected, 
is  much  less  severe  than  in  those  of  Asia  ;  and  the  state  of 
civilization  to  which  the  inhabitants  have  arrived,  enables  them 
to  deiend  themselves  against  its  influence  with  much  more 
success  ihm  is  in  the  power  of  savapes. 


104 

shortness  of  their  necks,  are  referable  likewise  to  the 
effects  of  extreme  cold.  Severe  frost,  especially 
where  men  are  exposed  to  its  action  without  ade- 
quate defences,  almost  involuntarily  prompts  them 
to  raise  their  shoulders  in  order  to  protect  the  neck, 
and  cherish  its  warmth.  And  when  this  cause  acts 
with  that  constancy  and  uniformity  which  prevails 
in  the  frigid  zone  of  Asia,  it  naturally  produces  a 
fixed  habit  of  body.  It  resembles  in  its  effects  those 
artificial  constrictions  which  are  sometimes  applied 
to  the  persons  of  children  to  alter  the  figure,  attitude, 
or  movements  of  particular  limbs.  In  like  manner 
those  habits  of  the  person  which  naturally  result 
from  the  general  temperature  of  the  atmosphere,  be- 
come fixed  in  time,  and  unchangeably  incorporat- 
ed with  other  peculiarities  of  the  climate.  Hence 
the  Tartar  neck  must  ever  be  short,  not  only  be- 
cause it  suffers  a  proportional  contraction  with  other 
parts  of  the  system  from  the  influence  of  cold,  but, 
because  the  head  and  shoulders  being  increased  in 
size,  and  the  latter,  particularly,  being  elevated 
above  their  natural  position,  necessarily  encroach 
upon  its  length.  And  so  much  are  they  raised  in 
many  instances  as  entirely  to  conceal  the  neck,  and, 


16s 

to  give  the  head  an  appearance  of  resting  upon  them 
for  its  support. 

That  these  peculiarities  are  purely  the  effect  of 
climatical  influence*  is  confirmed  by  the  change 
which  has  passed  upon  the  descendents  of  those 
Chinese  families  who  have  removed  into  that  region 
of  Tartary,  to  the  North  of  the  great  wall,  which  is 
subject  to  the  Chinese  empire.     In  no  very  long  pe- 


*  Climate,  and  even  certain  temporary  constitutions  of  th« 
atmosphere,  are  known  peculiarly  to  affect  particular  parts  of 
the  human  system.  This  is  visible  in  many  epidemic  disor- 
ders, as  in  quinzies,  peripneumonies,  catarrhs,  and  in  those 
diseases  w^hich  are  in  a  gi'eat  measure  confined  to  particular 
districts  of  a  country,  as  the  goitiers  among  the  Alps,  and  a 
disease  very  sin-iilar  in  its  appeanmce,  which  is  frequently  found- 
in  the  vicinity  of  Pittsburg  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania.  If 
temporary  constitutions  of  the  atmosphere  are  found  to  give 
diseases  a  determination  to  certain  pai'ts  of  the  system  rather 
than  to  others,  should  it  be  strange  that  the  habitual  state  of  a 
climate,  or  of  the  atmosphere  in  particular  countries,  should 
affect  some  parts  of  the  body  more  than  others,  so  as  to  in- 
crease or  diminisli  their  size,  or  alter  their  figure  ?  Certain 
medicines  are  likewise  known  to  have  a  detei*mination  to  one 
part  of  the  body  rather  than  another.  But  in  the  atmos- 
phere are  found  the  elements  of  all  medicinal  agents,  existing 
in  diffei-ent  proportions  at  various  times.  We  might  then, 
from  analogy,  have  recourse,  if  it  were  necessary,  which  it  is 
not,  to  some  unknown  atmospheric  constitution  to  account  for 
certain  peculiarities  of  the  Tartar  as  well  as  of  the  negr^  phv' 
siognomy. 


106 

fiod  of  time,  they  have  become  perfectly  assimilat- 
ed in  their  figure  and  aspect,  to  the  native  Tartars. 
The  French  missionaries  in  China,  v/ho,  during  a 
certain  period  had  perfect  liberty,  and  enjoyed  the 
best  advantages  to  examine  the  interior  state  of  the 
empire,  assure  us  that  they  have  been  witnesses  of 
this  remarkable  effect  of  the  climate  even  as  low  as 
the  forty-eighth  degree  of  northern  latitude.* 

That  coarse  and  deformed  features,  resembling 
those  of  the  Tartar  race,  naturally  result  from  the 
constant  action  of  intense  cold,  will  be  obvious  even 
on  a  slight  inspection  of  the  countenance  exposed  to 
a  keen  and  frosty  air.  The  aperture  of  the  eye-lids 
is  contracted  in  order  to  protect  that  delicate  organ 
from  the  piercing  influence  of  the  wind ;  the  eye- 
brows are  drawn  together  and  made  to  overhangs 
them ;  the  mouth  is  closed  to  prevent  the  air  from 
entering  too  copiously  into  the  chest  and  stomach ; 
the  under  jaw  is  closely  pressed  against  the  upper, 
which  tends  to  give  an  unnatural  elevation  to  the 
cheek ;  the  face,  therefore,  wliich  is  diminished  in 
its  length,  is,  in  the  same  proportion,  spread  out  at 
the  sides  ;  and  every  feature,  by  the  action  of  cold, 

*  See  Rccueil  24  ties  lettrcs  edifiantes. 


107 

becomes  more  harsh  and  distorted  than  it  would  be 
in  a  mild  temperature  of  the  atmosphere.  How 
much  must  this  effect  be  increased  in  the  poorer 
classes  of  society,  whose  laborious  employments, 
and  want  of  the  conveniences  which  wealth  may  pro- 
cure, expose  them  to  the  utmost  severity  of  the  cli- 
mate? And  how  much  more  still  in  the  abject  con- 
dition of  savage  Jife  ? 

The  effect  which  I  have  just  described,  is  in  our 
climate,  and  in  our  state  of  society,  necessarily  tran- 
sient, being  effaced  by  the  change  of  season,  or  by 
the  conveniences  which  the  arts  have  furnished  to 
dissipate  the  cold,  and  restore  the  comfortable  warmth 
of  the  body.  But,  in  the  inhospitable  climate  of  Si- 
beria, or  Kamtschatka,  where  there  is  little  remission 
of  the  intensity  of  the  frost,  it  becomes  a  permanent 
habit  of  the  countenance.  The  hardness  and  irre- 
gularity of  Tartar  features  will  be  increased  also  by 
the  rude  manners  of  the  people,  which  never  induce 
them  to  put  any  constraint  on  the  most  disagreea- 
ble expression  of  their  unpleasant  sensations  ;  and 
by  their  destitution  of  the  chief  arts  and  convenien- 
ces of  society  which  might  mitigate  to  their  feel- 
ings the  severity  of  the  atmosphere.  And  this  rig- 
orous influence  of  the  climate  commencing  its  ac- 


108 

tion  from  the  tenderest  period  of  infancy  when  the 
features  are  most  susceptible  of  impression,  and  be- 
gin to  assume  a  settled  habit,  and  continuing,  and 
repeating  it  with  little  remission  till  they  are  fixed  in 
the  ultimate  point  of  deformity,  they  there  constitute 
the  Tartar,  Samoiede,  or  Esquimaux  countenance. 

The  principal  chracteristics  of  that  countenance^ 
the  causes  of  which  may  require  further  illustration, 
are  the  depression  of  the  middle  of  the  face,  and  the 
prominence  of  the  forehead,  in  the  northern  Asi- 
atic ;  and,  in  those  people  who  inhabit  the  extremities 
of  the  North,  both  of  Asia  and  of  Europe,  the  gen^ " 
eral  weakness  as  well  as  smallness  of  the  eyes. 

The  middle  of  the  face  is  that  part  which  is  most 
exposed  to  the  immediate  action  of  the  cold,  and 
consequently  suffers  most  from  its  power  of  contrac- 
tion, which  tends  to  impede  the  growth  of  the  parts. 
And  a  circumstance,  perhaps  not  unworthy  of  no- 
tice, may  deserve  to  be  mentioned  as  contributing  to 
increase  the  effect.  Every  person  in  a  cold  atmos- 
phere naturally  draws  his  breath  more  through  the 
nostrils*  than  the  mouth.     This  will,  therefore,  be 


*  A  frosty  air  inhaled  by  the  nostrils  chills  the  body  much 
less  than  taJiicn  in  by  the  mouth.     Nature  therefpre  prompts 


109 

^  common  habit  of  all  people  inhabiting  very  cold 
regions.  Thus  the  impulse  of  a  chilling,  and  almost 
congealing  current  of  air  directed  against  that  fea- 
ture, and  the  parts  adjacent,  must  greatly  tend  to  re- 
strain the  freedom  of  their  expansion.* 

On  the  same  principles,  the  next  peculiarity,  or  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic  of  the  Tartar  physiognomy, 
which  is  the  prominence  of  the  forehead,  is  easily 
explained.  The  superior  warmth  and  impulse  of 
the  blood  in  the  brain,  which  fills  the  upper  part  of 
the  head,  will  naturally  increase  its  relative  magni- 
tude ;  hence  the  forehead  and  the  brows  will  be  pro- 
portionably  projected  over  the  contracted  parts  im- 
mediately beneath  them. 

The  eyes  in  those  rigorous  climates  toward  the 
North  of  Tartary,  and  in  Lapland,  are  singularly 
affected.  The  prominence  of  the  eye-brows  gives 
them  the  appearance  of  being  sunk  in  the  head ; 


men  almost  involuntarily,  in  extreme  cold,  to  keep  the  mouth 
closed,  and  even  to  press  the  jaws  strongly  together. 

*  By  directing  a  constant  stream  of  air  against  the  bulb  of  4 
thermometer,  touching  it  at  the  same  time  with  any  volatile 
fluid  that  by  its  speedy  evaporation,  will  be  continually  carry- 
ing  off  some  portion  of  the  internal  heat,  the  mercury,  even 
in  warm  weather,  will  suffer  as  great  a  contraction  as  it  would 
by  many  additional  degrees  of  cold. 


110 

which  appearance  is  increased  by  the  contraction  of 
their  lids  occasioned  by  extreme  cold.  And  the  in- 
tensity of  the  frost,  concurring  with  the  glare  of  the 
snows  which,  throughout  almost  the  whole  year, 
cover  the  surface  of  the  earth,  so  overstrains  these 
tender  organs,  as  to  render  them  generally  weak  ; 
and,  among  the  most  northern  tribes,  blindness, 
even  at  a  very  early  age,  is  a  frequent  disease. 

In  the  temperate  zone,  on  the  other  hand,  and  m 
a  latitude  rather  below  than  above  the  middle  region 
of  temperature,  the  agreeable  warmth  of  the  atmos- 
phere disposing  the  body  to  the  most  free  and  easy 
expansion,  will  open  the  features  into  the  most  pleas- 
ing and  regular  proportions.*  Here  the  large  full 
eye  is  that  form  of  this  feature  to  which  the  climate 
naturally  tends ;  whence,  in  the  strain  of  a  Persian 
poet,  the  eye  of  the  antelope  ascribed  to  his  mistress ; 


"*  In  the  continents  of  Asia  and  America,  and  the  remark 
may  be  applied  in  some  degree  to  Europe,  the  temperate  cli- 
mates and  extreme  cold  border  so  near  upon  one  another  that 
%vc  pass  ahnost  immediately  from  the  mildness  of  the  former  to 
the  Yi^QV  of  the  latter.  Hence  we  find  the  Laplander,  the  Sa- 
moiede,  the  Mongou,  and  the  tribes  round  Hudson's  bay,  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  Swede,  the  Russian,  and  Canadian. 
Without  attention  to  this  remark  a  hasty  observer  might  sup- 
pose that  the  sudden  change  of  features  in  people  almost  in  the 
vicinity  of  one  another,  militates  against  the  principles  above 
laid  doAvn  witli  regard  to  ihe  effects  of  heat  and  cold., 


lU 

and  in  that  of  a  Greek,  the  venerable  large  eyed  Juim 
in  describing  the  dignified  aspect  of  a  goddess/^^ 
would  convey  an  idea  of  female  beauty  or  divine 
majesty  to  their  respective  nations,  which  can  hard- 
ly be  understood  by  an  inhabitant  of  the  North  of 
Europe  or  of  Asia.  This  is  perhaps  the  reason  that 
in  Greece,  in  Georgia,  between  the  Euxine  and 
Caspian  seas,  and  other  regions  distinguished  by  the 
peculiarly  mild  temperature  of  their  climate,  the 
human  person  is  so  often  seen  to  display  that  perfect 
symetry  of  parts,  and  those  beautiful  proportions, 
which  most  nearly  correspond  with  the  original  idea 
of  the  Creator,  t 

The  African  face,  confining  that  designation  of 
countenance  chiefly  to  the  torrid  zone  of  western 
Africa,  is  distinguished  by  the  depression  of  the 
nostrils,  and  the  thickness  of  the  lips,  accompanied 
by  a  peculiar  projection  of  the  fore-teeth  arising  from 

*    Bo-OPIS    POT-XIA    HE-RE. 

t  Chardin  asserts  that  in  Georgia  he  saw  the  most  beautiful 
people  of  all  the  East,  and,  perhaps,  of  the  world.  I  ha\e 
never  observed,  says  he,  one  homely  countenance  of  eitlier  sex 
in  that  country.  Nature  has  shed  upon  the  greater  portion  of 
their  women  graces,  no  where  else  to  be  seen.— Chardin-'s 
Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  112j  171. 


112 

their  oblique  insertion  into  their  sockets.  The  fore- 
head is  narrow,  and  generally  wrinkled ;  while  the 
eyes,  and  brows  suffer  a  remarkable  contraction. 
It  is  difficult,  indeed,  precisely  to  point  out  those 
physical  influences  on  which  these  several  effects  re- 
spectively depend.  Something  is  probably  to  be 
ascribed  to  climate,  as  almost  all  people  within 
the  torrid  zone  have  the  mouth  larger,  and  the  lips 
more  protuberant  than  the  nations  within  the  tempe- 
rate latitudes.  Somewhat  also,  is,  perhaps,  justly 
imputed  to  the  state  of  society,  and  the  habits  of 
living  ;  as  it  may  be  observed,  I  believe,  of  all  the 
savage  tribes  of  men,  where  they  are  not  emaciated 
by  want,  and  their  features  shrunk  by  the  poverty  of 
their  diet,  that  they  are  marked  by  a  certain  eleva- 
tion of  the  cheek,  and  turgidity  of  the  mouth.* 
And  as  the  distention  of  the  features  in  one  direction 
naturally  tends  to  produce  a  correspondent  contrac- 
tion in  another,  the  protuberance  of  the  mouth,  and 
turgidness  of  the  lips,  or  any  great  prominence  of 
the  cheek,  or  dilatation  of  the  face,  is  commonly 
conjoined  with  a  proportional  depression,  shortening, 


*  Some  account  of  this  appearance  will  hereafter  be  attempt- 
ad  in  treating  of  the  effects  resulting  from  different  states  of 
eocietv. 


\ 


113 

or  sinking  of  the  nose.  Seldom,  therefore,  does 
this  feature  rise  in  tropical  climes,  or  in  savage  life, 
to  the  same  elevation  w^hich  it  has  in  the  civilized 
nations  of  Europe. 

Some  travellers  have  endeavoured  to  persuade  us 
that  the  depression  of  the  nose  among  the  Africans, 
is  owing  to  an  artificial  operation  practised  upon  their 
children  in  infancy.  And  it  is  certain  that,  ever 
since  the  days  of  Hippocrates,  several  barbarous 
nations,  in  order  to  form  their  children  according  to 
some  fantastic  model  of  beauty  which  they  have 
conceived,  have  endeavoured,  by  violent  compres- 
sions applied  to  the  head,  or  to  some  particular  parts 
of  the  body,  to  change  their  natural  figure.  We  are 
not,  however,  sufiiciently  acquainted  with  the  inte- 
rior of  Africa,  and  the  customs  of  the  different  tribes 
inhabiting  that  continent,  to  enable  us  to  pronounce 
any  decided  opinion  concerning  the  consequences  of 
this,  or  of  other  causes,  dependent  upon  manners, 
which  have  been  assigned  for  these  effects  by  vari- 
ous writers.* 


*  Marsden  in  his  history  of  Sumatra,  and  J.  R.  Foster,  in  his 
account  of  the  Society  Isles  in  the  South  Sea,  and  the  authors  on 
whose  testimonythe  report  of  ^/ie  lords  qfthe  committee  qf  court' 

0 


114 

But,  to  whatever  causes  the  appearance  of  these 
features  in  the  natives  of  Africa  ought  to  be  ascrib- 
ed, they  seem  to  be  in  a  great  measure  local ;  and 
dependent,  at  the  same  time,  in  some  degree,  on 


r//,m  England,  yb?- //if  consideration  of  the  slave  trade  ^i?,  found- 
ed, assure  us  that  among  all  these  tribes  artificial  pressures  are 
applied  to  certain  features  of  their  children.  The  latter  parti- 
cularly affirm  that  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  the  nose  of 
the  new  born  infant  is  always  flattened  by  violence.  On  the 
other  hand,  Barbot,  in  Churchill's  collection  of  A'oyages,  as- 
cribes the  effect,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  custom  of  the  poorer 
"W^omen,  carrying  their  young  children  on  their  backs  while 
travelling,  or  engaged  in  their  daily  labor,  particularly  the  labor 
in  wiiich  they  are  occupied  every  morning  of  beating  or  pound- 
ing their  millet.  The  children,  he  supposes,  by  striking  tlie 
mouth  and  nose  continually  against  tlie  shoulders  of  their 
mothers,  at  length  render  the  one  more  depressed,  and  the 
other  more  turgid.  In  corroboration  of  this  opinion,  he  affirms 
tliat  these  features  in  the  better  classes  of  the  natives,  are  by  no 
means  so  deformed  as  in  the  poorer  and  more  laborious  ranks. 
Whatever  justice  there  may  be  in  these  observations  in  the  ex- 
tent which  Barbothas  given  to  the  power  of  so  small  a  cause, 
certain  it  is  that  the  minutest  causes  by  their  constaiit  action, 
are  often  productive  ultimately  of  very  great  and  important  con- 
sequences.— Ti,ke  for  an  example  the  ears  of  many  boys,  espe- 
cially in  the  country,  which  being  pressed  forward  by  their  hats 
in  the  day,  and  riOt  restored  by  any  bandage  in  the  night,  assume 
at  length  an  habitual  position,  resembling  that  of  the  ears  of  a 
beast  pricked  forward,  and  listening  to  catch  a  distant  sound. 
From  some  similar  causes,  perhaps,  have  arisen  those  tales, 
related  by  certain  voyagers,  of  nations  in  the  East  who  are  said 
to  have  moveable  ears  capable  of  being  erected  like  those  of  a 
horse,  or  a  hare. 


115 

the  manner  of  living.  For,  it  is  an  undoubted  fact, 
that  the  descendents  of  that  race  in  the  United 
States,  are  gradually  losing  these  peculiarities  so 
offensive  to  our  eye.  In  those  black  slaves  especi- 
ally, who  reside  constantly  in  the  mansions  of  their 
-masters,  and  who  are  treated  with  that  lenity  and 
kindness  which  the  greater  portion  of  them  who  are 
placed  in  that  situation,  experience  in  these  states, 
we  often  see  the  nose  finely  turned,  and  rising  hand- 
somely from  the  face  ;  and  the  lips,  though  gently 
swelled,  have  lost  that  unsightly  protuberance  so 
common  among  their  ancestors  in  Africa.  The  Af- 
rican feature,  however,  vanishes  much  more  slowly 
in  those  slaves  who  are  subjected  to  the  severer 
labors  of  the  field,  and  the  coarser,  and  less  nutri- 
tious  fare  of  the  plantation  quarters  in  the  southern 
states.  A  fact  which  seems  strongly  to  indicate  that 
this  variety  of  the  human  countenance  does  not  de- 
pend merely  on  the  influence  of  the  climate,   but  is 

Camper  indeed  has  produced  some  very  plausible  facts  for 
his  opinion  that  the  effects  of  violence  upon  the  body,  or  of  any 
customs  which  affect  it  only  externally  can  never  be  transmit- 
ted by  birth.  The  contrary  doctrine,  however,  has  been  sup- 
ported by  the  great  names  of  Hippocrates,  Aristotle,  Plinvj 
ajid  even  by  those  greater  naturalists  Haller  and  Euffon. 


116 

connected  also,  in  some  measure,  with  the  manner 
of  living,  and  habits  of  the  people  And  this  con- 
clusion is  corroborated  by  another  fact  existing 
within  the  region  of  tropical  Africa.  Many  indi- 
viduals are  seen  among  the  most  deformed  of  their 
tribes,  in  whom  these  features  are  far  from  being 
dibagreeable.  These  probably  belong  to  the  better 
classes  of  the  people  spoken  of  by  Barbot.  And 
there  are  several  nations  in  that  zone,  and  even  on 
the  western  coast,  in  whom,  what  is  peculiarly  de- 
nominated the  African  countenance,  is  hardly  to  be 
distinguished.* 

With  regard  to  the  contraction  of  the  eyes,  and 
eye-brows,  the  wrinkled  appearance  of  the  forehead, 
and  the  general  expression  of  silliness,  and  uneasi- 
ness so  frequently  exhibited  in  the  features  of  the 
aboriginal  African,  we  may  remark,  that  it  is  that 


*  Aikin  says,  "  the  people  of  Congo  are  represented  as  hav- 
ing little  of  the  negro  feature,  though  perfectly  black  with 
wcoily  hair."  Geog.  p.  299.  edit.  Phil,  pi'inted  for  F.  Ni- 
chols, 1806.  In  the  same  edit.  p.  294,  he  says  of  the  Kaf- 
fers,  or  Kousis,  "with  this  people  European  travellers  httve 
become  acquainted  in  their  expeditions  from  the  colony  of  the 
C.ipe,  and  hc4.ve  found  a  remarkubly  strong  and  well  made  race, 
br.tvc,  and  not  unucquainted  with  the  arts  of  life,  and  much 
superior  in  appearance  to  the  neighboui-ing  African  tribes." 


117 

figure  and  habit  of  countenance  which  is  the  natural 
consequence  of  the  intense  ardor  of  the  sun's  rays 
darted  directly  on  the  head.* 

Ahhough  the  Barbary  states,  bordering  the  south- 
ern shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  lie  under  a  milder 


*  As  the  intensity  of  the  sun's  rays  falling  on  the  superior 
parts  of  the  head  has  a  tendency  to  contract  the  forehead  and 
the  eyes,  will  not  this  effect,  in  consequence  of  the  natural  re- 
lations between  different  parts  of  the  system,  as  already  men- 
tioned, contribute  to  the  dilatation  of  the  parts  below,  whence 
may  be  occasioned,  in  a  degree,  the  unsightly  protrusion  gf 
the  mouth  ?— 

In  conformity  with  these  observations,  I  find  a  reflection 
made  by  Mr.  Volney  in  his  travels  through  Egypt :  «  The 
countenance  of  the  negroes,  says  he,  represents  precisely  the 
state  of  contraction  which  our  faces  assume  when  sti'ongly  af- 
fected by  heat ; — The  eye-brows  are  knit,  the  cheeks  rise,  the 
eye-lids  are  drawn  together,  and  the  mouth  pouts  out.  This 
state  of  contraction  to  which  the  features  are  perpetually  expos- 
ed in  the  hot  climates  of  the  negroes  is  become  tlie  peculiar 
characteristic  of  their  countenance."  And  coincident,  in  some 
degree,  with  observations  which  I  have  before  made  on  the 
effects  of  climate  on  the  Tartar  countenance,  he  adds  ;— "  Ex- 
cessive cold,  wind,  and  snow  produce  the  same  effect,  and 
thus  we  discover  the  same  faces  among  the  Tartars."  Trans- 
lation of  Volney's  Travels,  Dublin  edition,   1788,  p.  49. 

The  last  loose  expression  of  Mr.  Volney  might  lead  an  incau- 
tious I'eader  into  an  error.  The  negro  and  the  Tartar  fdce  are 
not  the  same,  although  both  are  distinguished  by  a  depression 
of  the  middle  of  the  face,  and  protrusion  of  the  parts  about  the 
mouth. 


118 

sky  than  tropical  Africa,  yet  posited  so  near  that 
torrid  climate,  we  might  still  expect  to  find,  though 
considerably  softened,  many  of  its  characteristic  fea- 
tures. Accordingly  we  learn  from  the  Roman  wri- 
ters that  the  people  of  that  region,  at  least  as  high 
as  the  kingdoms  of  Numidia  and  Gastulia,  par- 
took in  some  degree  of  the  negro  countenance.  But 
by  repeated  conquests,  the  aboriginal  races  have 
been  so  wasted,  or  blended  with  strangers,  that  hard- 
ly can  the  present  population  be  said  to  bear  any  dis- 
tinct and  general  characters  of  a  national  counte- 
nance. Egypt  is,  likewise,  occupied  by  a  mixed  race 
drawn  together  from  various  northern  climes,  who 
hardly  exhibit  any  national  characteristic  of  face. 
But  the  Copts,  who  are  believed  to  be  the  descend- 
ents  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  still  present  so  much 
of  the  negro  visage,  as  strongly  to  indicate  that  their 
remote  ancestors  were  more  nearly  allied  in  their  ap- 
pearance to  the  nations  beyond  them  to  the  South, 
than  the  present  inhabitants  of  Egypt.  The  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  present  population  being  derived 
from  ancestors  who,  within  recent  periods  of  histo- 
ry have  migrated  thither  from  different  countries  of 
Europe  and  Asia,  have  been  enabled,  by  the  arts  of 
civilization,  to  preserve  the  lineaments  of  their  Eu- 


119 

ropean,  or  Asiatic  original ;  whereas  the  primitive 
people  would  naturally  be  more  deeply  marked 
witi*  the  characters  of  a  climate  approaching,  as  does 
that  of  Ei^ypr,  the  tropical  latitudes.  And  in  proof 
of  iliis  opinion  it  is  ingeniously  remarked  by  Mr. 
Voli  ey,  thcit  the  face  of  the  Sphinx,  which  exhibits 
a  strong  expression  of  the  negro  countenance,  and 
was  probably  copied  from  the  standard  of  face  which 
chieflv  prevailed,  and  consequently  was  chiefly  ad- 
mired among  those  who  sculptured  it,  is  a  standing 
monument  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  visage,  and  of 
its  conformity,  in  many  of  its  lineaments,  with  that 
of  tropical  Africa,  with  which  region  they  must  have 
had  the  most  intimate  relations. 

The  national  or  general  countenances  of  many  of 
the  tribes  and  great  communities  of  mankind  receive 
their  form  and  expression  from  the  state  of  society,  and 
the  peculiar  habits  and  manners  which  either  the  phy- 
sical circumstances  of  the  country,  or  the  moral  and 
political  condition  of  the  people  have  created  among 
them ;  the  illustration  of  w  hich  is  reserved  to  another 
branch  of  this  essay.*     It  is  generally  acknowleged, 

*  As  particular  examples  we  may  take  at  present,  the  fero- 
oious  aspect  of  some  savage  tribes  who  are  frequently  engaged 


120 

indeed,  that  the  soft,  and  mutable  parts  of  the  body- 
are  liable  to  considerable  changes  from  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  climate,  or  from  the  influence  of  society 
and  manners.  But  the  bones  which  are  hard  and 
solid,  and  little  subject  to  change,  it  has  been  sup- 
posed, cannot  be  affected  in  their  figure  by  causes 
so  minute,  and  almost  insensible  in  their  operation. 
Hence  it  has  been  inferred  by  some  respectable 
anatomists,  that  the  form  of  the  skeleton,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  skull,  contains  more  certain  indications 
of  difference  of  species  than  the  fleshy  parts  of  the 
system.  When,  therefore,  in  comparing  the  skulls 
of  an  African,  a  Tartar,  and  a  European,  they  find 
very  considerable  varieties  in  the  shape  of  this  princi- 
pal bone  of  the  skeleton,  they  esteem  it  a  fair  ground 
on  which  to  conclude  that  these  several  races  of  men 
belong  to  different  species. 

This  argument  appears  to  me  to  be  the  result  of 
a  very  negligent  attention  to  the  operations  of  na- 
ture.  The  bones,  although  they  are  certainly  the  least 


in  cruel  and  bloody  wars,  or  tlie  mild  and  benignant  physiog- 
nomy of  a  Braminical  Indian  ;  the  sprightly  visage  of  a  French 
comedian,  or  the  demure  and  sad  countenance  often  to  be  found 
hi  cloisters. 


121 

mutable  parts  of  the  corporeal  system ;  yet  are  evi- 
dently capable  of  increase,  diminution,  and  change, 
and,  during  the  whole  course  of  life,  are  continually 
acquiring  or  losing  some  portions  of  their  substance. 
Luxury,  or  simplicity  in  the  habits  of  living  possesses 
no  inconsiderable  influence  on  the  firmness  of  their 
texture.  An  indolent  and  effeminate  life,  on  the 
one  hand,  or  habitual  occupation  in  vigorous  and 
athletic  exercises  on  the  other,  affects  both  their 
consistence  and  their  form.*  Certain  employments, 
or  attitudes,!  continued  from  early  life,  produce  pe- 
culiar effects  on  the  figure  of  particular  limbs.  And, 
in  large  manufactories  in  Europe  it  is  well  known 
that  the  negligence  which  necessarily  takes  place  in 
those  institutions  in  the  care  of  children,  where  they 


*  Nor  ought  the  narration  of  the  historian  to  be  deemed  a 
fiction  who  infonns  us  that  the  husbandmen,  in  turning  up  tiie 
fields  in  after  ages  on  which  the  battles  of  Alexander  and  Da- 
rius were  fought,  could  easily  distinguish  the  skulls  of  the  Per- 
siiUis  from  those  of  the  Greeks  by  their  extreme  fragility. 

t  Some  artizans  are  said  to  be  known  by  their  gait,  or 
the  figure,  or  attitude  of  particular  limbs.  And  Mr.  Forster 
informs  us  that  the  inhabitants  of  New-Zealand,  almost  uni- 
versally have  the  joints  of  their  knees  much  enlarged,  from  the 
general  custom  both  in  their  boats,  and  on  shore,  of  sitting  on 
their  hams. 


122 

are  left  with  little  assistance,  and  care,  to  struggle 
with  all  the  difficulties  of  their  first  eftorts  to  vvalk^ 
and  ai'e  afterwards  confined  to  sedentary  occupa- 
tions, in  which  nature  is  restrained  from  freely  un- 
folding her  powers,  it  is  a  common  thing  to  see  the 
different  limbs  of  the  body  suffer  a  great  variety  of 
distortions.  And  this  is  seen  to  take  place  without 
any  extreme  violence ;  but  merely  in  consequence 
of  being  frequently  thrown  into  unfavorable  posi- 
tions, while  the  bones  were  yet  in  thtir  softest  state; 
and  by  wanting  that  regular  action  which  enables 
every  part  of  the  system  most  freely  to  expand  itself. 
In  infancy  and  youth,  therefore,  before  the  bones  have 
attained  their  firmest  consistency,  these  solid  sub- 
stances are  susceptible  of  considerable  alterations  in 
their  figure  from  the  operation  of  very  minute  caus- 
es, and  especially  from  the  vai'ious  and  powerful 
action  of  climate.  On  the  figure  of  the  head,  parti- 
cularly, besides  the  climatical  influences  or  die  ex- 
traneous accidents  to  which  it  may  be  exposed, 
every  action  of  every  muscle  affecu  d  in  any  way  by 
the  thoughts  and  passions  of  the  mind,  is  calculated  to 
make  some  impression.  And  although  the  separate 
impressions  may  be  insensible,  yet  the  accumulated 
result  of  an  infinite  number  of  the  slightest  touches 


123 

becomes  very  perceptible  in  a  long  course  of  time. 
Nor  is  the  softness  of  muscular  action  a  sufficient 
objection  as^ainst  the  reality  of  this  fact.  What  can 
be  softer  in  its  action  than  a  drop  of  water  falling 
from  the  height  of  a  few  inches?  Yet,  in  time,  it  will 
wear  a  cavity  in  the  hardest  marble.  What  can  be 
more  tender  than  the  young  herb  just  sprouting  from 
the  seed"?  Yet,  although  the  earth  that  covers  it  may 
be  pressed  down,  and  beaten  hard,  we  see  it,  by  the 
gentle  impulses  of  its  expanding  fibres,  and  circulat- 
ing juices,  gradually  swell,  and,  at  length,  break 
through  the  incumbent  crust.  Shall  we  deny,  then, 
that  the  passions  which  often  strongly  agitate  the 
mind,  nay,  that  each  emotion,  each  thought,  by  af- 
fecting the  muscles  which  give  expression  to  the 
countenance,  and  varying  their  tension,  and,  cor.se- 
quently,  their  pressure  on  different  parts  of  the  bony 
base  of  the  head,  may  also  affect  its  figure  ? — From 
these,  and  similar  facts,  some  great  physiologists 
have  imagined  that  the  figure  of  the  skull,  with  its 
various  protuberances  and  indentations,  affords  a  cer-. 
tain  criterion  by  which  to  judge  of  the  intellectual 
powers,  and  moral  dispositions  of  men. 

On  this  subject,  we  may,  perhaps  be  justified  in 
affirming  that  the  various  strictures  and  relaxations 


124 

of  the  muscles  about  the  head  produced  by  the  iniin- 
itely  diversified  actions  of  thought  and  passion  will, 
in  time,  leave  certain  impressions  affecting  the  exte- 
rior form  of  the  skull.  At  the  same  time,  the  brain, 
the  immediate  organ  of  all  the  emotions  of  the  soul, 
will,  by  its  dilatations  and  contractions,  contribute, 
in  some  degree,  to  mould  the  interior  cavity  in  which 
it  is  embraced.  On  the  other  hand,  the  original 
figure  of  this  receptacle  of  the  brain,  in  different 
men,  by  giving  it  scope  in  some  for  a  more  ample 
expansion,  and  a  freerer  action ;  or,  in  others  by 
compressing  it  in  some  parts  of  its  orb,  and  therety 
restricting  the  regularity,  or  freedom  of  its  motions, 
may  affect  the  operations  of  the  mind,  and  thus  lay 
a  foundation  in  the  organization  or  structure  of  the 
head  for  the  existence  and  display  of  particular  in- 
tellectual or  moral  excellencies,  or  defects.  The 
original  figure  of  the  skull,  therefore,  may  have  an 
influence,  not  inconsiderable,  on  the  developement 
and  exercise  of  certain  passions  and  affections  of  the 
mind,  and  on  its  peculiar  powers  of  intellect  or  im- 
agination ;  and,  on  the  contrary,  the  habitual  exer- 
tion of  these  powers,  or  indulgence  of  these  pas- 
sions, especially  in  the  early  periods  of  life,  may  re- 
ciprocally affect  the  figure  even  of  that  solid  cell  in 


125 

which  the  brain,  the  immediate  organ  of  the  mental 
actions,  is  contained.  The  physiognomonical  sci- 
ence, indeed,  with  which  these  remarks  are  connect- 
ed, may,  probably,  never  be  susceptible  of  very 
great  accuracy,  or  extent,  through  our  incapacity  of 
disentangling  perfectly  the  infinitely  complicated,  or 
of  discriminating  with  nicety  the  infinitely  fine  linea- 
ments, either  in  the  form  of  the  head,  or  the  ex- 
pression of  the  countenance,  which  indicate  the  cha- 
racter of  the  mind.  Perhaps  its  pretensions  have  in 
some  instances  been  already  carried  too  far.  Some 
great  outlines,  however,  there  are  which  cannot 
easily  be  mistaken,  and  which,  to  an  attentive  ob- 
server of  nature,  may  furnish  general  principles,  that 
may  often  be  applied  with  considerable  certainty  in 
judging  of  the  qualities  of  the  understanding  and 
the  heart. 

From  the  preceding  observations,  if  they  are 
founded  in  nature  and  fact,  we  are  fairly  entitled  to 
infer,  that  some  climates,  and  some  states  of  soci- 
ety, and  modes  of  living,  by  varying,  in  a  less  or 
greater  degree,  the  form  of  the  head,  that  organ 
which,  by  its  figure,  necessarily  affects  the  opera- 
tions of  thought,  are  more  or  less  favorable  than 
others  to  certain  exertions  of  the  mental  powers.  Anc| 


126 

we  may  infer  further,  that  after  a  people  have  long 
cultivated  science  and  the  arts  with  success,  or  de- 
voted themselves  chiefly  to  certain  occupations  and 
pursuits,  a  greater  general  aptitude  for  those  pur- 
suits, or  those  arts  may  become  hereditary  among 
their  descendents,  till  other  causes  arise  to  change 
their  manners.  The  argument,  therefore,  for  diver- 
sity of  species  in  the  human  kind  which  some  phi- 
losophers fancy  they  have  found  in  the  varieties  of 
the  skull  in  different  nations,  must  be  inconclusive, 
since  so  many  causes,  both  physical  and  moral  are 
found  to  operate  material  changes  in  the  form  of  this 
part  of  the  human  skeleton.^ 


*  That  the  climate,  together,  probably,  with  other  physical 
causes,  possesses  some  influence  to  create  considerable  altera- 
tions in  tlie  figure  of  the  skeleton,  as  well  as  in  the  general  ex- 
terior form  of  various  aiiimals,  at  least  equal  to  the  varieties 
which  appear  in  the  skulls  of  different  nations,  is  evident  from 
the  whole  history  of  zoology.  Buffon  assures  us  that  the 
beautiful  form  of  the  Barbary  race  of  horses  soon  disi^ppears 
when  they  are  transferred  to  France.  The  head  of  that  animal 
reared  in  Naples  assumes  very  much  the  configuration  of  that 
of  a  ram  ;  and  in  Hungary  the  under  jaw  is  seen  to  protrude 
forward  considerably  beyond  tlie  upper. 

The  effect  of  the  state  in  which  animals  are  placed,  and  their 
habits  of  living,  is  illustrated  by  a  striking  example  in  the  skull 
of  tliO  wild  boar;  especially  in  its  superior  size  and  hardness, 
and  the  length  and  curvature  of  its  tusks  above,  tliose  of  the 


12T 

But  whatever  difFerences  anatomists  have  discov- 
ered between  the  skull  of  a  Laplander,  and  that  of  a 
German  or  Hungarian  between  that  of  a  Portuguese, 
and  of  a  negro  of  Congo  or  Mitomba,  of  a  Tartar 
and  an  inhabitant  of  the  Mogul  empire,  fact  and  ex- 
perience have  amply  demonstrated  the  power  of  the 
various  causes  which  have  been  mentioned,  to  create 
these  distinctions.  The  Finnish  and  Lapland  races 
have  been  proved,  by  the  affinity  of  their  languages, 
to  that  of  the  Hungarians,  to  have  been  originally 
sprung  from  the  same  stock.  The  descendents  of  a 
Portuguese  colony  not  three  centuries  old  on  the 
coast  of  Africa,  are  now  no  longer  distinguishable 
either  in  their  appearance,  or  their  manners  from  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  country.  The  Mogul 
race  is  known  to  have  been  derived  from  Tartary ; 
and  the  Mogul  countenance  is  only  the  Tartar  fea- 

eommon  swine  ;  all  which  must  result  entirely  from  their  situ-t 
atioii,  and  modes  of  life.  In  some  counties  in  England  the 
horns  of  their  black  cattle  are  remarkc.bly  long,  and  embrace  a 
wide  space  witldn  their  curve  ;  in  Iceland  these  cattle  are  whol- 
ly destitute  of  this  excrescence.  Perhaps  climate,  and  tlie 
munner  of  living  both  concur  in  the  production  of  these  oppo- 
site effects. — Ncitural  history  furnishes  innumerable  examples 
which  demonstrate  the  influence  of  climate,  aud  other  physical 
causes,  in  varying,  iii  different  ways,  the  figure  of  tmimals. 


128 

til  re  softened  by  the  climate  of  India,  and  by  more 
mild  and  civilized  manners. 

But  we  must  add  to  the  effects  of  climate,  and 
other  physical  influences  in  diversifying  the  figure  of 
the  head,  the  artificial  means  applied  by  several  bar- 
barian or  savage  nations,  in  order  to  attain  some 
fantastic  idea  of  beauty.  Certain  tribes  among  the 
American  indians  endeavour,  by  the  use  of  particu- 
lar kinds  of  ligature,  or  istruments  of  pressure,  ap- 
plied to  the  head  of  the  new^  born  infant,  to  change 
its  natural  from,  and  to  give  it  one  which  they  es- 
teem more  beautiful,  or  more  martial.*  And  simi- 
lar customs  exist,  according  to  the  narrations  of  voy- 
agers most  worthy  of  credit,  in  many  of  the  islands  of 

*  Two  nations  among  the  northern  tribes,  are,  from  tlie 
shape  which  they  give  their  heads,  in  the  manner  related  above, 
distinguished  by  the  denominations  of  the  round-heads,  and  the 
fiat-heads.  This  is  attested  also  by  Charlevoix  in  his  history 
of  Canada.  Condamini,  who  spent  a  long  time  in  South-Ame- 
rica, informs  us,  in  a. memoir  addressed  to  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  at  Paris  in  1 745,  that  the  nation  of  the  Omaguas  have 
the  fantastic  custom  of  pressmg  the  heads  of  their  children,  as 
SQon  as  bom,  between  two  flat  pieces  of  wood,  in  order  to  give 
the  face  the  appearance  of  the  full  moon.  The  existence  6f 
similar  customs  in  Lima,  is  further  proved  by  a  deci-ee  of  the 
Synod  or  Council  of  that  province,  forbidding  the  indians  to 
-distort  the  heads  of  their  children  by  putting  a  force  upon  na- 
tnrs. — At  a  Svnod  held  in  the  city  of  Lima  in  the  year  1585.  ""■ 


the  southern  ocean.    This  practice  was  not  unknown 
to  several  nations  of  antiquity  both  in  Europe  and 
Asia.    It  is  attributed  by  Hippocrates,  to  the  Macro- 
cephali ;  a  nation  near  the  eastern  end  of  the  Euxine 
sea.     They  moulded  the  heads  of  their  children,  he 
says,  to  the  long  figure,  which  their  name  imports, 
because  they  esteemed  it  a  mark  of  noble  and  gen- 
erous birth,  and  sentiments.     And  he  supposes  it 
was  originally  effected  by  certain  bandages,  or  other 
means  of  pressure,  employed  by  midwives«nd  nur- 
ses in  the  earliest  period  of  infancy.     It  is  his  opin- 
ion, likewise,  that  the  various  forms  of  the  head  in. 
many  different  nations  may  be  attributed  originally  to 
similar  arts ;  because  nature,  says  he,  may,  in  time, 
be  made  to  assume  the  shape  of  art ;  so  that  any  obli- 
quity of  form  artificially  given  to  a  particular  member 
©f  the  body,  and  repeated  through  many  genera- 
tions, shall,  at  length,  be  incorporated  into  the  con- 
stitution  of    the   race,     and  become   hereditary.^ 
Whatever  estimate  we  may  frame  of  this  principle, 
which  certainly  derives  no  inconsiderable  weight 
from  the  name  of  the  great  father  of  medical  science, 

*  Hip.  de  acre,  iind  locis,  Stc.  Sect.  2.  edit.  Fressii,  p.  28?, 
de  Macroccphalis. 


130 

43  well  as  from  the  names  of  several  distinguished 
modern  naturalists*  who  have  embraced  it,  we  may 
at  least  give  him  full  credit  for  the  existence  of  the 
custom.     And  such  customs,  becoming  general  in  a 


*  Scaliger  says  that  the  Genoese,  deriving  the  custom  from 
their  ancestors  the  Moors,  flatten  the  heads  of  their  children 
while  asleep  till  now  they  are  all  born  with  both  the  lieud  and 
the  soul  of  Thersites.  Comment,  in  Theophrust.  liber  5.  p» 
287,  de  cuusis  plantarum.— In  this  remark,  indeed,  we  see  tlic 
effect  of  the  pique  and  resentment  which  Scaliger  had  conceiv- 
ed against  the  people  of  Genoa,  but  we  see  also  the  opinioii  of 
that  great  man,  that  certain  habits  of  person,  whether  deform- 
ities, or  otherwise,  may  be  so  ingrafted  into  the  constitution  by 
long  custom  as  at  last  to  become  hereditary,  and  characteristic 
of  a  whole  people. 

Cardan  speaks  in  the  same  way,  lib.  5,  cap.  43,  de  varietate, 
Sec. — iThe  Chinese  have,  by  artlficiul  strictures  compressing 
the  feet  of  their  female  children,  rendered  that  deformity  to  a 
considerable  degree,  hereditary.— 

Certain  it  is  that  neat  cattle,  horses,  and  other  domestic  ani- 
mals, turned  into  tlie  woods  in  the  West  of  Carolina,  in  Loui- 
siana, and  other  uncultivated  parts  of  America,  where  tliey  find 
but  a  scanty  supply  of  food,  and  are  liable  to  many  accidents 
from  their  feebleness  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  and  the 
want  of  human  care,  not  only  become  diminutive  and  deformed 
themselres,  but,  although  brought  back  from  their  wild  and 
savage  state,  and  placed  in  the  most  favorable  circunistances, 
will  propagate  a  diminutive  and  deformed  offspring  for  several 
generations.  By  proper  attention,  however,  they  ure  Cc'.pc.ble 
of  being  gradually  restored  to  the  size  and  beauty  of  tlic  origi- 
nal European  stocks  from  which  they  were  derived  ;  except  in 
those  places  where  a  hot  sun,  and  barren  soil  prevent  the 


131 

nation  will  necessarily  produce  a  change  in  the  as- 
pect of  the  whole  people. 

It  is  necessary,  in  the  next  place,  to  take  some 
notice  of  the  extravagant  relations  which  have  beea 
given  to  the  world  by  certain  travellers,  of  the  pro- 
digious ex'.)ansion  of  the  ear  which  they  observed  in 
some  barbarous  nations  of  the  East ;  and  of  the  no 
less  extraordinary  tales  concerning  the  long  and  pen- 
dulous breasts  of  the  African  women  in  general,  and 
especially  of  those  tribes  which  inhabit  the  southern 
portion  of  that  continent.  Among  the  former  they 
pretend  to  have  seen  people  with  such  large  ears  that 
they  could  wrap  themselves  in  their  immense  vol- 

growth  of  a  luxuriant  herbage.  In  such  situations,  the  sire  of 
the  animal  is  necessarily  contracted  in  proportion  to  the  defect; 
of  nutritious  food,  or  the  prevalent  excess  either  of  heat,  or 
cold. — 

Such  examples  as  the  preceding  seem  to  confinr,  in  some 
degree,  the  opinion  of  Hippocrates,  Scaliger,  and  Cardan,  whicJi 
has  been  just  mentioned,  and  of  other  respectable  writers,  who 
have  embraced  the  same  doctrine, — that  any  form  of  the  body, 
or  of  any  of  its  parts,  produced  not  only  by  climate  or  the  me^ns 
or  modes  of  living,  but  by  any  habit,  the  result  eitlier  of  cli- 
matical  influence  like  the  contracted  eyes  and  forehead  of  the 
negro,  or  of  national  custom,  like  the  small  feet  of  the  females 
in  China,  the  long  heads  of  the  Mtxrocephali,  or  tlie  flat  heads 
of  some  of  our  Indian  tribes,  is  communicable  to  offspring  by 
natural  inheritance. 


132 

lime;  and  among  the  latter,  women  wliose  breasts 
liDiig  down  like  sacks  below  their  knees,  and,  in  some 
instances,    even  to  the  ground,     The  extravagance 
of  these  narrations  ought  to  be  sufficient  to  destroy 
their  credit  with  all  persons  but  tolerably  acquainted 
with  the  natural  history  of  the  globe.     Some  fami. 
lies  in  every  nation,  and  the  inhabitants  of  particular 
districts  of  different  countries  have  ears  extended 
beyond  the  usual  proportion  which   they  bear  to 
other  parts  of  the  head.      In  Spain  the  Bisca}  ans 
are  said  to  have  them  much  larger  than  the  people 
of  the  other  provinces  of  that  kingdom.    Some  sav- 
age tribes  are  known  to  stretch  their  ears  by  weights 
appe.ided  to  them ;  which  they  esteem  highly  orna- 
mental.    And  it  is  a  common  custom  among  our 
American  indians,  from  a  like  false  taste  of  beauty, 
to  cut  the  rims  of  their  cars,  in  a  \'ery  artificial  man- 
ner,   into  narrow  strips,    round  wliich  they  wrap 
thin  plates  of  shining  metal,  which  weigh  them  down 
to  the  shoulders.     But,   such  sheets  of  ear  as  were 
formerly  spoken  of  by  many  travellers  and  even  by 
Pliny,  have  not  been  discovered  by  recent  and  more 
accurate  observers,  and  may  safely  be  pronounced 
to  have  no  existence. 

A  like  remark  may  be  applied  to  those  narrations, 
the  greater  part  of  which  one  writer  of  travels  has 


153 

borrowed  from  another,  which  have  been  so  long 
vended  by  ignorance,  or  imposture,  and  received  by 
creduhty,  concerning  the  protracted  and  pendulous 
breasts  of  the  women  of  many  uncultivated  tribes, 
especially  of  Africa.  The  whole  origin  of  those  tales 
is  probably  to  be  found  in  the  effect  which  poverty, 
great  hardships,  and  exhausting  toils,  naturally  have 
not  only  on  savages  but  on  poor  women  in  the  low- 
est classes  of  civilized  society,  to  render  their  breasts, 
in  time,  flaccid  and  thin.  This  flaccidity,  especially 
in  advanced  life,  and  after  they  have  been  much 
drawn  by  the  suckling  of  children,  does  occasion 
their  depending  much  lower  than  the  breasts  of  wo- 
men who  have  enjoyed  plenty  and  ease.  Ignorant 
travellers,  who  have  not  been  accustomed  to  the  view 
of  naked  savages,  smitten  with  the  love  of  astonish- 
ing their  countrymen  with  a  marvellous  tale,  or  infect- 
ed with  the  prejudices  of  little  minds,  which  delight 
to  depreciate  and  misrepresent  whatever  is  seen  in 
foreign  countries,  have  given  these  exaggerated  pic- 
tures of  the  length  of  the  breasts  of  African  fe- 
males.*   That  climate,  or  other  causes,  in  the  benefi- 


*  Even  Ireland  not  two  centuries  ago,  when,  however,  ii 
was  rarely  visited  by  English  travellers,  and  was  regarded  with 


134 

cent  arrangements  of  divine  providence,  may  in- 
crease the  size  of  these  organs  of  the  nouiishnu  tit  of 
infants,  especially  in  regions,  or  states  of  society  in 
which  it  would  otherwise  be  peculiarly  difficult  to 

*ontemptuous  pride  by  its  more  powei-ful  and  wealthy  neigh- 
bour, wiis  sometimes  subject  to  similar  misrepreseutations. 
Uthgow,  in  his  rare  adve7itures  and  painful  fiercgrinations^ 
says  he  saiv  tvomen  in  the  «  North  fiarts"  of  thi't  island,  I  pre- 
sume with  traveller's  eyes,  who  could  lay  their  breasts,  or 
"  dugs"  as  he  calls  them,  over  their  shoulders,  and  suckle 
their  children  behind  their  backs.  He  adds,  that  they  ivere 
more  than  half  a  yard  in  length,  and  disduirifully  compur^^ 
them  to  the  many-bags  of  an  East-India  merchant,  made  of 
naell  tanned  leather.  It  is  not  wonderful  then  that  more  dis- 
tant and  savage  countries  should  be  more  grossly  misrepre- 
sented. There  are,  indeed,  very  few  travellers  who  visit  re- 
mote regions  with  a  philosophic  spirit,  or  even  with  the  atten-. 
tion  requisite  for  accurate  observation.  If  they  see  a  single 
fact  which  strikes  them  with  surprize,  they  are  apt,  from  it,  to 
characterize  a  whole  country  ;  and  if  they  observe  somewhat 
extraordinary  in  the  aspect  or  manners  of  a  few  individuals,  or 
certain  vices  or  follies  which  are  only  different  from  the  follies 
and  vices  which  are  familiar  to  tliem  m  tlieir  own  country,  they 
make  them  a  foundation  for  abusive  calumnies  and  exaggerated 
,and  distorted  pictures  of  a  whole  people.  Indeed  the  ridicu- 
lous mistakes,  or  wilful  falsehoods,  or  the  prejudiced  colour- 
ing given  to  almost  all  objects,  which  v/e  find  in  the  travels  of 
tlie  greater  part  of  Europeans  who  have  visited  America,  are 
suflicient  to  bring  into  doubt  all  extraordinary  relations 
brought  to  us  by  such  men  from  distant  portions  of  the  globe, 
oi  from  any  countries  whose  habits  and  manners  differ  from 
those  of  the  writer, — The  observation  made  above  by  Lithgow 


135 

find  a  proper  sustenance  for  them,  is  not  improba- 
ble. But  a  little  excess  above  the  ordinary  scale  of 
nature,  or  a  little  deviation  from  its  ordinary  stand- 
ard, in  any  feature,  or  limb,  has  often  afforded  oc- 
casion for  the  most  hyperbolical  relations  in  the  ac- 
counts which  travellers  have  retailed  of  remote,  or  un- 
ex]:)lored  regions.  And  that  such  has  been  the  source 
Qi  the  extravagances  which  I  have  just  mentioned, 
in  the  descriptions  given  by  several  voyagers,  who 
have  just  touched  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  of  the  pen- 
dulous breasts*  of  women  in  some  of  the  Hottentot 


on  the  long  and  leathern  dugs  of  Irish  women,  renders  it  pro- 
bable that  he  has  seen  a  few  of  the  laboring  poor,  discoloured 
■by  exposure  to  the  sun,  and  exhausted  with  toil,  and  tlie  scan- 
tiness of  their  provision,  whose  breasts,  having,  in  conse- 
tjuence,  become  flrxcid,  and  somewhat  pendulous,  and  pro- 
tracted, have  given  occasion  to  all  this  misrepresentation,  the 
effect  merely  of  foreign  contempt,  and  false  wit. 

*  Savage  women,  who  generally  carry  their  infants  on  their 
backs  in  long  and  irksome  marches,  or  during  their  work,  do, 
through  necessity,  or  for  convenience,  often  suckle  them  by 
making  them  reach  over  their  shoulders  ;  and  for  this  purpose 
they  endeavour  to  stretch  their  breasts  to  meet  the  mouth  of 
the  child.  By  the  repetition  of  this  practice,  the  breast  may 
sometimes  be  drawn  into  an  unnaiural  length.  Some  examples 
©f  this  are  seen  among  the  American  indians  ;  and  doubtlesB 
may  be  found  among  the  African  tribes.  But  Indian  Avomen 
whp  are  not  exposed  to  uncommon  hardships,  and  negresses  in 


136 

tribes,  as  well  as  of  that  natural  veil  of  modesty* 
which  has  been  ascribed  to  them  by  others,  there 
hardly  now  remains  a  doubt. 

The  peculiar  form  of  the  legs  in  certain  nations 
may,  from  the  manner  in  which  they  have  been  re- 
marked on  by  several  eminent  anatomists,  justly 
claim  a  portion  of  our  attention. — Among  the  Tar- 
tar tribes  some  have  these  limbs  remarkably  short, 
and  widely  bowed  between  the  knees.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  nations  among  the  Indians  as  much 
distinguished  by  their  length.  These  constitutional 
peculiarities  are  with  great  probability  ascribed  to 
some  influence  of  the  climate  or  of  the  habits  of  so- 
ciety, or  manner  of  living.     This  conjecture  is  cor- 


the  United  States  who  are  brought  up  in  genteel  families,  are 
said  to  have  breasts  as  well  fonned  as  the  Anglo-Americans. 

*  Voltaire,  who  is  equally  a  wretclied  philosopher  and  a 
brilliant  wit,  is  fond  of  magnifying  this  A'eil  that  he  may  find  in 
it  one  important  character  of  a  peculiar  species.  It  is  probably 
no  more  than  that  lax  and  corrugated  skin  on  the  abdomen 
which  sometimes  becomes  pendulous  in  women  who  have  borne 
many  children,  and  especially  in  those  who  have  suffered  great , 
hardships.  Or  it  may  be  only  a  pi'otr^ction  of  the  labia,  which 
tak^s  placc^  as  we  are  infomned  by  anatomists,  in  some  women 
of  all  nations  ;  and  which,  in  particular  instances,  may  be  very 
much  increased  by  the  filthy  habits  of  several  of  the  African 
tribes. 


157 

roborated  by  the  known  effect  of  climate  and  of  the 
manner  of  feeding  on  different  species  of  quadru- 
peds, and  of  fowls.  Passing  other  instances,  at  pre- 
sent, I  will  take  an  example  only  from  the  neat  cattle 
of  Holland  removed  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The 
deep  bodies  and  short  legs  of  the  herds  which  feed 
in  the  rich  meadows  of  Holland  disappear  entirely  in 
the  meagre  pastures  of  the  Cape ;  and,  in  a  few  de- 
scents the  whole  race  of  the  beeve  kind  are  deformed 
with  long  legs,  and  comparatively  narrow  and  lank 
bodies.  It  is  observed,  likewise,  of  the  cattle  in  the 
United  States,  and  especially  in  those  states  which 
lie  southward  from  Pennsylvania,  and  in  the  districts 
eastward  between  the  Apalachian  mountains  and  the 
ocean  that  they  are  longer  in  the  leg,  and  shallower 
in  the  body,  than  the  British  stocks  from  which  they 
are  derived.  This  effect,  however,  is,  perhaps,  \ts^ 
to  be  imputed  to  climate,  tlian  to  the  scantiness  and 
poverty  of  their  food  in  a  country  as  yet  imperfectly 
cultivated,  and  to  the  negligence  with  which  they 
are  guarded  against  the  inclepiency  and  changes  of 
the  seasons.  For  we  find  that,  in  other  parts  of 
America,  in  which  the  cattle  are  properly  fed,  and 
sheltered  during  the  winter,  and,  in  summer,  suffer- 

R 


158 

ed  to  run  in  rich  pastures,  they  are  often  equal  both 
in  form,  and  size,  to  the  finest  stocks  in  England.* 

The  curvature  of  the  legs,  so  frequently  observed 
among  the  Tartar  tribes,  has,  by  Blumeubach  after 
Pallas,  been  reasonably  ascribed,  as  its  chief  cause, 
to  the  custom  of  placing  their  children  on  horseback 
almost  from  their  infancy,  and  ihe  constant  habit  of 
riding  at  that  early  age  when  their  natural  timidity 
and  inexperience  prompt  them  to  embrace  the  ani- 
mal forcibly  between  the  legs  and  knees. 

But  that  deformity  of  the  l<ig  which  has  attracted 
the  greatest  attention  of  naturalists  and  is  thought  to 
depart  farthest  from  the  beautiful  proportions  of  the 
human  frame,  is  the  curve  projecting  forwards  which 
is  seen  in  most  of  the  natives  of  the  western  coast  of 
Africa,  especially   among  the  lowest  orders  of  the 


*  Of  this  Mr.  Jefferson  gives  several  examples  in  the  sixth 
section  of  his  Notes  on  Virgmia. 

An  ox  raised  near  New-Haven  in  Connecticut  lately  passed 
through  Princeton  on  his  way  to  Philadelphia  of  the  following 
dimensions  and  weight: — he  was  16  hands  high;  he  was  18 
feet  in  length  from  the  end  of  the  tail  to  the  nose  ;  12  feet  in 
circumference  round  the  body  ;  and  his  weight  Avas  3400lbs. 

Another  ox  has  been  exliibited  in  this  town  within  a  few  days, 
raised  in  Morris  county  in  New-Jersey,  of  the  weight  of 
3500lbs.  called  by  a  piece  of  country  wit,  on  account  of  his 
size,  the  Morris  county  calf.     He  was  six  years  old. 


139 

people.  For,  savages,  or  barbarians  as  they  arc, 
their  society  is  distributed  into  different  grades  ;  and 
|t  is  chiefly  among  the  inferior,  or  servile  classes  that 
we  find  those  uncouth  features,  and  deformed  limbs, 
^  which  go  to  compose  what  we  call  the  proper  Afri- 
can person,  and  countenance.  But  among  their 
princes  and  the  superior  ranks  of  their  popula- 
tion, the  human  form  is  often  seen  in  a  high  degree 
of  beauty  and  perfection.  I  have  limited  my  obser- 
vation likewise,  to  the  western  coast  of  Africa  prin- 
cipally ;  because  the  same  deformity  does  not  exist 
among  the  Abyssinians,  or  the  CaiFres  on  the  east- 
ern coast,  who  are  not  depressed  in  such  abject  savr 
agism ;  and  is  hardly  perceived  among  the  natives 
of  Aian,  and  Zanquc  bar,  who,  though  nearly  in  the 
same  latitude,  enjoy  a  milder  climate. 

This  region  of  Africa  anciently  furnished  slaves  to 
the  Romans  to  be  employed  in  the  humblest  offices, 
who  were  conveyed  to  Rome  through  Mauritania, 
and  the  territories  of  Carthage,  and  sometimes  by 
the  way  of  L}  bia  and  Egypt.  The  gibbous  form 
of  their  legs,  with  other  African  peculiarities,  is 
remarked  by  Petronius ;  and  it  appears  both  from 
him,  and  from  Virgil  that  the  same  defects  of  person 
must  have  existed  in  that  climate  from  the  remot- 


140 

est  periods  of  history.*  But  the  cUmate  is  proba- 
bly not  alone  to  be  charged  as  the  cause  of  this  de- 
formity ;  for  the  neighbouring  regions  of  Numidia 
and  Mauritania  have  always  nourished  a  straight  and 
well  proportioned  race  of  men.  And,  as  I  have  just 
remarked,  even  within  that  zone  which  exhibits, 
among  the  poorest  and  most  servile  race,  the  great- 
est deformities,  you  often  meet,  among  their  chiefs, 
with  men  of  handsome  features,  and  regular  propor- 
tions. And  Mr.  Bruce  informs  us  that,  in  the  desert 
of  Senaar  on  the  eastern  side  of  Africa,  under  the 
very  tropic  of  Cancer,  he  saw,  in  the  house  of  one 
of  their  chiefs,  a  woman  of  the  most  beautiful  form, 
the  most  delicate  skin,  and  the  most  lovely  composi- 


*  Petronius,  Satyricon,  c.  102.  Atramento  mutemus  colo- 
res  a  capillis  usque  ad  ungues.  Ita  tanquam  servi  ^Ethiopes 
— ^age,  numquid  et  labira  possumus  tumore  teterrimo  implore  ? 
numquid  &  crines  calamistro  invertere  ?  numquid  et  frontes 
cicatricibus  scindere  ?  numquid  et  crura  in  orbem  pandere  ? 
And  Virgil  in  his  Moretum,  1.  31— -36  : 

Interdum  clamat  Cybalen  :  erat  unica  custos, 

Afra  genus,  tota  patriam  testante  figura, 

Torta  comam,  labra  tumens,  8c  fusca  colorem  ; 

Pectore  lata,  jacens  mammis,  compressior  alvo, 

Cruribus  exilis,  spatiosa  prodga  planta  ; 

Cpntinuis  rimis  calcanca  scissa  rigebant. 


141 

tion  of  features,  he  had  ever  beheld.^  The  cause 
of  the  gibbous  leg  of  the  vulgar  African,  therefore, 
we  may  find,  not  more  in  the  climate  than  in  some 
peculiar  customs  in  the  treatment  of  their  children. 
The  manners  of  savages  often  result  from  the  ne- 
cessities of  their  situation.  Among  the  North- Am- 
erican Indians  the  mother  is  always  obliged  to  be- 
stow the  greatest  assiduity  in  her  attentions  to  her  in- 
fant in  order  to  protect  it  from  the  injuries  of  seasons 
which  are  extremely  variable,  and  often  rigorous ; 
and  to  provide  it  with  food  by  her  own  labor,  in 
the  bosom  of  forests  where  little  offers  itself  sponta- 
neously to  be  gathered.  At  the  same  time,  the  hard- 
ships of  a  wandering  and  hunting  life  prevent  the 
multiplication  of  children,  so  that,  frequently,  one  is 
three  or  four  years  old  before  she  is  burthened  with 
the  care  of  a  second.  The  necessities,  therefore,  of 
her  state  require,  and  the  intervals  between  her  chil- 
dren afford  her  leisure  for,  the  exercise  of  every  ten- 

*  Before  this  rencontre  he  informs  us  he  had  always  con- 
nected the  idea  of  perfect  beauty  with  a  fair  complexion  ;  but 
whenvhe  beheld  this  Senaar  lady,  he  speaks  of  himself  as  being 
for  some  moments  suspended  in  admiration :  and  he  was  at 
once  convinced  that  almost  the  all  of  beauty  consists  in  ele- 
gance of  figure,  in  the  fineness  and  polish  of  the  skin,  in  grace 
■of  movement,  and  the  expression  of  the  countenance. 


142 

der  and  maternal  care  which  her  savage  condition 
will  admit.  She  consequently  employs  the  utmost 
pains  not  only  in  providing  for  the  safety  and  sub- 
sistence of  her  child  during  its  infancy,  but  in  form- 
ing its  person  to  activity,  beauty,  and  \  igor,  that  it 
may  hereafter  be  able  to  rely  boldly  on  itstlf  in  hunt- 
ing or  in  war,  and  in  all  the  exigencies  of  its  hazard- 
ous state.* 

The  African  mother,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not 
under  the  same  necessity  to  be  perpetually  solicit- 
ous for  the  safety  and  subsistence  of  her  infant ;  nor 
does  she  feel  the  same  motives  to  exercise  such 
constant  and  minute  attentions  to  preserve  the  erect- 
ness  and  activity  of  its  person.  The  warmth  of  the 
climate,  which  is  favorable  to  the  multiplication  of 
children,  releases  the  mother  also  from  much  anxiety 
about  the  ir  provision  or  their  safety.  It  permits  her, 
while  employed  in  any  other  care,  to  leave  them  ex- 
posed naked  to  its  influence  without  incurring  those 

*  In  her  frequent,  long,  and  painful  marches,  in  order  to  pre- 
serve the  limbs  of  her  child  perfectly  straight,  and  to  guard 
themi  against  eveiy  accidented  distortion  which  nught  otherwise 
affect  it,  she  extends  it  upon  a  thin  board,  or  plank,  with  its 
buck  towards  the  plank  ;  and,  that  she  may  be  able  to  preserve 
it  perfectly  in  its  position,  small  hoops  are  bent  over  it  insert- 
ed at  each  end  in  the  pUuik.     In  her  marches  she  travels  with 


143 

risks  to  which  the  delicate  constitution  of  a  child 
would  be  liable  under  a  cold,  and  variable  sky.  The 
climate,  almost  spontaneously,  or  with  very  little 
labor,  offers  them  abundantly,  those  fruits  and  roots 
which  arc  proper  for  the  nourishment  and  support  of 
their  children.  While  occupied,  therefore,  in  cul- 
tivating the  small  spot  of  earth  about  her  hut,  or 
in  other  domestic  cares,  she  often  leaves  even  her 
youngest  children  for  a  long  time  together,  wholly 
to  their  own  management.  This  is  a  spectacle 
which  is  often  seen  also  in  the  quarters  of  the  African 
slaves  in  the  southern  states  of  America,  and  in  the 
West-India  isjands.  Children  thus  left,  while  their 
bones  are  yet  in  a  soft,  and  almost  gristly  state, 
will  be  liable  to  many  accidents  that  may  distort  the 
figure  of  their  limbs,  in  their  frequent  struggles  with 
their  natural  imbecilities,  in  endeavouring  to  move 
from  place  to  place.  In  their  first  efforts,  especially, 
to  creep  upon  their  hands  and  feet,  the  weight  of  the 
body,  pressing  upon  the  tender  bones  of  the  thighs 


tills  board  suspended  at  her  back.  And  often,  while  occupi- 
ed ii\  her  wigwam,  she  attaches  the  child  to  the  same  board, 
supporting  it  against  the  wall  of  her  hut,  or  against  the  stock 
of  a  tree  at  her  aour,  to  Save  it  from  any  untoward  accident' 
while  her  attention  is  otherwise  engaged. 


144 

and  legs  in  an  oblique  position,   must  tend  to  give 
them  that  gibbous  form  which  is  thought  to  be  pecu- 
liar to  the  African  ,race,  but  which  is  often  seea 
among  the  poorest  classes  in  other  countries.     But  I 
must  remark  here,  as  I  have  already  done  concerning 
other  characteristics  of  this  race,  that,  whether  the 
causes    which   have  produced  them  be  justly  as- 
signed, or  not,  certain  it   is,    that,  in   the  United 
States,  they  are  gradually  throwing  off  this  gibbous 
deformity  of  the  leg.     Many  of  them,  of  the  third  or 
fourth  descent,  who  have  been  trained  in  genteel 
families,  and  have  not  been  pressed  by  excessive 
labors,  are  distinguished  by  straight  and  well  turn- 
ed limbs,  and  by  those  easy  and  graceful  movements 
which  can  never  be  exhibited  where  the  person  is 
crooked  or  deformed.     And  this  change  is  becom- 
ing daily  more  conspicuous.     On  the  other  hand, 
in  those  states  in  which  an  extensive  slavery  exists, 
and  great  numbers  are  collected  on  the  respective 
plantations  in  small  villages  of  huts  at  a  distance 
from  their  masters'  mansions,  these  field  slaves,  liv- 
ing chiefly  by  themselves,  and  being,  in  general,  dir- 
ty, ragged,  and  badly  fed ;  liaving,  in  consequence, 
little   concern  about  personal  beauty  ;    and  being 
urged  at  the  same  time  by  constant  labors,   and 


145- 

obliged,  therefore,  to  abandon  their  children  very 
much  to  themselves,  even  in  their  earliest  infancy,  the 
peculiar  deformities  of  the  African  race  continue  to 
subsist  much  longer,  and  in  a  much  greater  degree, 
among  their  descendents  than  among  those  slaves 
who  always  serve  near  the  persons  of  their  masters. 
This  fact,  which  is  obvious  to  all  Americans, 
serves  to  confirm  the  opinion,  that  many  of  the 
peculiarities  of  the  African  person,  and  especially, 
the  gibbous  shape  of  the  leg,  are  to  be  ascribed  to 
neglect,  and  the  wretched  habits  of  living  of  those 
savages,  not  less,  and  perhaps  more,  than  to  any 
direct  influence  of  the  climate  on  the  constitution.* 
The  size  of  the  feet,  in  the  next  place,  although 
aifected  in  some  instances  by  climate,  as  has  before 


*  It  has  been  remarked  by  some  respectable  voyagers  thai  a 
small  gibbousness  of  the  leg,  and  probably  arishig  from  a  sim- 
ilar cause,  is  a  pretty  general  characteristic  of  the  aborigir.:;.! 
uihabitants  of  the  islands  of  the  Caribean  sea. 

And  in  all  the  great  manufactories  of  Europe,  in  which 
young  children  are  necessarily  very  much  neglected,  there  js 
always  a  large  proportion  of  crooked  and  deformed  persons. 
This  is  true  also  of  many  persons  in  all  the  classes  of  extreme 
poverty  in  that  country.  On  tlie  other  hand,  in  tlie  United 
States  of  America  where  extreme  poverty  at  present  hardly 
any  where  exists,  except  in  a  few  hospitals  and  alms-houses, 
a  crocked  limb,  or  a  maimed  person  is  rarely  to  be  seen. 

S 


140 

been  rendered  apparent,  in  the  case  of  the  Esquimaux, 
and  other  tribes  far  removed  towards  the  North  pole ; 
yet  depends  more  on  the  artificial  bandages  by  which 
they  are  confined,  or  the  free  expansion  which  is 
permitted  to  them  in  different  countries.  The  Chi- 
nese repress  the  growth  of  the  feet  of  their  women 
by  tight  and  painful  ligatures.  On  the  other  hand, 
we  see  that  those  persons  in  the  United  States  who 
pursue  the  labors  of  the  field  barefooted  during  the 
whole  summer  season,  have  their  feet  spread  out  to 
an  extraordinary  breadth,  and  proportionably  extend- 
ed in  length.*  From  a  like  cause  proceeds  the 
large  size  of  this  member  which  is  common  to  al- 
most the  whole  African  race.  The  foot  of  the  Af- 
rican is  never  confined  by  a  shoe,  or  any  equivalent 
ligature;  it,  therefore,  receives  the  full  expansion 
which  the  whole  weight  of  the  body,  continually 
pressing  upon  it  in  that  state,  can  give.f     And  the 

*  J.  R.  Forster  in  his  account  of  Capt.  Cook's  last  voyage, 
informs  us  tliat  the  natives  of  the  Society  Isles,  though,  other •% 
wise  a  himdsome  and  well  proportioned  people,  have  universal- 
ly large  feet,  for  which  he  assigns  as  the  cause,  the  custom  of 
going  barefooted. 

t  Virgil's  «  spatiosa  prodiga  planta," 


147 

hot  sand  in  which  the  negro  constantly  treads  great- 
ly incrassates  the  skin,  and  opens  it  on  the  edges 
round  the  sole  of  the  foot  in  many  small  fissures,* 
which  give  it  the  appearance  of  hard  scales,  f 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  enter  into  any  minute 
enquiries  respecting  those  great  deviations  from  the 
ordinary  standard  of  the  human  stature  vrhich  have 
been-  reported  to  exist,  particularly,  in  two  different 
tribes  of  people,  supposed  to  be  the  extremes  of  the 
human  race ;  the  one,  a  nation  of  dwarfs,  said  to  in- 
habit the  mountains  of  Madagascar  4  the  other,  a 

*  "  Continviis  rinais  calcanea  scissa,"  of  the  same  author, 

t  Neither  the  expansion  of  the  foot,  nor  the  thickness  of  the 
skin,  in  that  race  is  greater,  in  proportion,  than  that  which 
takes  place  in  the  hand  of  a  sailor,  or  a  digger,  which  is  enlarg- 
ed  and  hardened  by  continual  pressure  on  the  ropes  of  his 
vessel,  or  the  handle  of  his  instrument.— -The  confinement  of 
tlie  shoe  is  gradually  producing  its  natural  effect  on  the  feet 
cf  tlie  domestic  slaves,  their  descendents,  in  the  United  States. 

From  a  cause  directly  the  reverse  of  that  which  creates  the 
enlargment  of  the  digger's,  or  tlie  sailor's  hand,  the  hand  of  the 
American  indian  is  small;  for  he  never  performs  any  labor  with 
it ;  except  drawing  liis  bow,  or  throwing  his  tomaliawk. 

I  This  story  which  was  entirely  discredited  in  Europe  by 
Flacourt,  was  revived  after  the  middle  of  the  last  century  by 
Gommerson  the  botanist,  who  saAv  a  piginy  girl  in  the  service 
«f  the  master  of  the  ship  in  which  he  embarked  from  IMada^fa.s- 


*  148 

gigantic  people  pretended  to  be  spread  over  the 
soatiiern  parts  of  the  country  of  Patagonia,  a  region 
which  has  received  its  denomination  from  them,  and 
extends  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  seas,  along 
the  straits  of  Magellhaens.  But  since  the  facts  have 
been  more  accurately  examined,  the  pigmies  of 
Madagascar  have  been  found  to  exist  ^y  in  fiction, 
in  mistake,  or  in  great  exaggeration,  by  which  a 
few  examples  of  the  defects,  or  abortive  births,  of  na- 
ture have  been  presented  to  us  as  a  distinct  race. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Patagonian  giants  have 
dwindled  down  to  a  race  of  men  the  average  of 
whose  stature  is  somewhat  above  that  of  the  savage 
nations    in  their   neighborhood.*^      This  is  equally 


car.  But  the  Baron  de  Clugny,  who  sailed  in  the  same  vessel, 
dechircs  that  she  was  evidently  a  diseased,  and  almost  a  mons- 
trous offspring.  She  was  of  a  chalky  colour,  with  a  breast  very 
much  depressed,  and  long  arms.  Her  voice  was  stridulous,  her 
head  extended  to  a  disproportioned  length,  and  her  whole  ap- 
pearance mdicative  ol  compleat  stupidity. 

*  The  average  stature  of  the  Patagonians  has  been  deter- 
mined to  be  about  six  feet,  or  but  little  more.  And  in  the 
United  States  are  many  examples  of  men  from  six  to  seven  feet 
in  height ;  and  several  instg-iiccs  are  known  of  men,  who  consid- 
erably exceed  seven  Icet.  Besides  the  general  reasons  which 
contribute  to  magnify  the  appearance  of  savage  men  in  a  new, 
and  xmcultivaied  countvv,  one  cause  which  helped  to  increase 


U9 

true  of  various  other  tribes  of  the  American  indians ; 
and  particularly  of  the  Osages,  a  tribe  situated  on  the 
South  of  the  Missouri  river,  the  greater  part  of  whom 
are  men  of  tall  stature,  and  of  robust,  and  athletic 
figure.  The  same  was  remarked  by  Tacitus  con- 
cerning the  ancient  Germans  compared  with  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Roman  provinces.  But  in  all  this, 
we  see  nothing  more  than  the  known  effects  of  cli- 
mate, of  food,  of  culture,  or  of  other  natural  causes, 
operating  on  animal  bodies  :  in  one  region  they  are 
more  slender,  in  another  they  are  more  gross ;  here 
they  are  seen  of  lower  stature,  and  there  of  taller  and 
more  noble  port. 

II.  Having,  thus  far,  endeavoured  to  point  out  the 
power  of  c  L I M  A  T  E  in  the  production  of  many  of  the 
varieties  which  distinguish  different  portions  of  the 

the  wonderful  narrations  of  navigators  concerning  the  size  of 
the  Patagonians  was  the  discovery  of  graves  among  them  of  an 
extraordinary  length,  which,  Mr.  Brown,  in  his  travels,  as- 
sures us,  arose,  in  some  instances,  if  it  was  not  a  general  cus- 
tom of  the  country,  from  burying  women  at  the  feet  of  men  ; 
probably  wives  at  the  feet  of  their  husbands,  and  dressing  up 
both  graves  with  the  appearance  of  one.  Mr.  Wood  informed 
him  of  a  grave  twelve  feet  in  length  which  upon  examination 
was  found  to  contain  two  skeletons,  of  a  male  and  female,  de- 
posited in  this  manner. 


150 

human  species,  I  proceed  to  illustrate  the  influence: 
of  the 

STATE  OF  SOCIETY,  AND  THE  HABITS  OF 
LIVING, 
in  creating  other  varieties,  or  in  aggravating  or  cor» 
rectinsT  those  which  are  occasioned  bv  climate. 

I  join  these  two  causes  together  in  treating  of 
them,  because  their  effects  are  frequently  so  blend- 
ed,  that  it  is  difficult,  in  many  cases,  precisely  to 
discriminate  them,  and  to  assign  each  to  its  proper 
head. 

In  the  first  place,  climate  exerts  its  full  influence, 
-and  produces  its  most  deteriorating  effects  in  a  sav- 
age state  of  society. 

And,  in  the  next  place,  the  peculiar  character, 
and  habits  of  society  in  which  men  are  educated, 
and  the  modes  of  living  to  which  they  are  either  ad- 
dicted from  choice,  or  compelled  from  necessity, 
tend  to  create  many  differences  in  their  complexion, 
their  figure,  the  form  and  expression  of  their  coun^ 
tenance,  and  in  their  whole  aspect. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  climate  produces  its  most 
deteriorating  effects  in  a  savage  state  of  society  ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  these  effects  are,  in  some  degree, 
corrected  by  the  arts  and  conveniences  of  civilization. 


151 

A  naked  savage,  seldom  enjoying  the  protection 
even  of  a  miserable  hut,  and  often  compelled  to  lodge 
on  the  bare  earth  under  the  open  sky,  imbibes  the  in- 
fluence of  the  sun,  and  atmosphere,  at  every  pore  of 
his  body.  The  American  indian  inhabits  an  unculti- 
vated forest,  abounding  with  stagnant  waters,  and 
covered  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  vegetables  which 
fall  down  and  corrupt  on  the  spot  where  they  had 
grown.  He  generally  pitches  his  wigwam  on  the 
side  of  a  river  that  he  may  enjoy  the  convenience  of 
fishing  as  well  as  of  hunting.  The  vapor  of  rivers, 
therefore,  M-hich  are  often  greatly  obstructed  in  their 
course  by  the  trees  fallen,  and  the  leaves  collected  in 
their  channels,  the  exhalations  of  marshes,  and  the 
noxious  gases  evolved  from  decaying  vegetables,  im- 
pregnate the  whole  atmosphere,  and  give  a  deep  bil- 
ious tinge  to  the  complexion  of  the  savage.*     And 


•  The  forests  in  uncultivated  countries  naturally  absorb  a 
great  portion  of  the  noxious  miasmata  with  which  the  almosi 
pi:ere  is  filled.  They  do  not,  however,  absorb  the  whole- 
Nothing  but  a  skilful  agriculture  can  perfectly  purify  the  itir 
from  the  insalubrious -exhalations  created  by  the  causes  already 
mentioned.  All  uncultivated  countries,  therefore,  tend  to  pro- 
duce a  bilious  habit,  and  a  dark  complexion  in  the  savages  wha 
range  them.  It  may  seem  an  objection  against  this  observation 
iliat,  in  America  we  often  perceive  bilioua  disorders  increase 


152 

the  sun,  acting  immediately  upon  the  skin  in  this 
state,  necessarily  impressed  on  it  a  very  dark  hue. 

The  darkness  of  the  complexion  is  still  further  in- 
creased by  the  custom  which  prevails  among  them 
of  painting  their  bodies  :  a  custom  to  which  these 
savages  are  often  obliged  to  have  recourse  in  order 
to  protect  themselves  from  the  injurious  effects  of 
the  moist  earth,  which  frequently  is  their  only  bed 


in  consequence  of  extending  the  plantations.     When  a  fevr 
acres  only  are  cleared  of  their  timber  and  wild  vegetables,  while 
the  marshes  around  them  are  not  drained,  the  trees  and  plants, 
which  formerly  absorbed  the  greater  poi'tion  of  the  putrid  mias- 
mata, being  taken  away  from  the  surfctce  of  the  plantation,  these 
unhealthful  vapors  consequently  fall  more  copiously  on   tlic 
inhabitants.     Besides,  the  heat  of  the  sun  is,  in  that  case,  very 
much  augmented.     For,  while  the  plantation  is  scorched  by  its 
almost  perpendicular  rays,  the   surrounding  woods  obstruct 
the  free,  and  refreshing  currents  of  the  winds.     So  that,  fre- 
quently, excessive  heat  combined  with  the   unhealthful  mois- 
ture of  the  atmosphere  will  produce,  for  a  time,  an  increase  of 
those   distressing  disorders,  till  the   country  is  laid   entirely 
open  to  the  powerful  action  of  the  sun,  aud  tlie  free  course  of 
the  wind.     In  clearing  a  new  country  of  its  forests,  and  prepar- 
ing it  for  cultivation,  a  large  grove  of  trees  should  be  left  round 
the  habitation  of  each  planter  or  farmer. — ^These  would  detain, 
and,  by  their  foliage,  absorb  in  a  great  measure  the  hurtful 
vapors  which  would  otherwise  fall  upon  it ;  at  the  same  time, 
the  fresh  and  refrigerating  perspiration  of  so  inany  trees  would 
contribute  to  the  salubrity  of  the  air  around,  and  within  his 
dwellintr- 


153 

during  the  night ;  and  of  an  atmosphere,  filled  with 
noxious  vapors,  to  the  influence  of  which  they  are 
exposed  without  covering.  Painting  taken  up  at 
iirst  through  necessity,  is  afterwards  employed  as 
an  ornament ;  and  an  indian  is  seldom  seen  without 
having  his  skin  anointed  with  some  composition 
that  injures  the  fineness  of  its  texture,  and  impairs 
the  clearness  of  its  natural  colour.  If  this  is  the  ef- 
fect of  the  finest  paints  and  washes  which  are  used 
for  the  same  purpose  in  polished  society,  much 
more  will  it  be  the  consequence  of  those  coarse  and 
filthy  ungents  employed  by  savages.  For  if  colour- 
ed marks  or  figures  inserted  by  punctures  into  the 
skin,  are  known  to  be  indelible,  it  is  reasonable  to 
believe  that  the  particles  of  paints,  insinuated  into 
its  texture  by  forcible  and  frequent  friction  will  pro- 
duce a  deep  and  permanent  discolouration.* 

To  this  may  be  added  the  frequent  fumigations 
by  which  they  are  obliged  to  guard  against  the  an- 
noyance of  innumerable  insects  which  swarm  in  uu- 

*  These  pdnte  consist  of  substances  unfit  to  be  taken  up  by 
the  absorbent  vessels  of  the  skin  and  received  into  the  circula- 
tion: they  are  lodged,  therefore,  by  the  force  of  friction,  just 
beneath  the  scarf  which,  being  little  subject  to  change,  the 
discolouration  is  retained  with  great  tenacity, 

T 


154 

drained  and  uncultivated  countries,  and  the  smoke 
with  which  their  huts,  small  and  unskilfully  built^ 
are  constantly  filled.  Smoke  discolours  every 
object  long  exposed  to  its  action,  by  insinuating- 
itself  into  the  pores  and  adhering  strongly  to  the 
surface.  Hence  it  contributes  somewhat  to  heighten 
the  effect  of  so  many  other  discolouring  causes  on 
the  complexion  of  the  American  savage. 

Lastly,  the  hardships  of  their  condition,  which 
tend  to  weaken  and  exhaust  the  principle  of  life ; — 
their  scanty,  and  meagre  food,  which  wants  that  suc- 
culence and  nourishment  which  give  freshness  to  the 
complexion,  and  vigor  to  the  constitution;  the  un- 
certainty of  their  provision,  being  sometimes  left  to 
languish  with  want,  and  on  other  occasions  furnished 
with  a  superfluity,  which  tempts  them  to  overstrain 
themselves  by  a  surfeit ; — and  finally,  their  entire  in- 
attention to  the  cleanliness  of  their  persons,  and  their 
huts,  all  have  their  influence  to  heighten  the  disagree- 
able duskiness  of  their  colour,  and  to  render  the  fea- 
tures coarse  and  deformed.  Of  the  power  of  these 
causes  in  savage  life  we  may  frame  some  conjecture 
from  observing  their  effects  on  the  poorest  classes  in 
society,  who  are  usually  as  much  distinguished  by 
their  meagre  habit,  their  uncouth  features  and  their 


155 

dingy  and  squalid  aspect,  as  by  the  meanness  of 
their  garb.  Nakedness,  exposure  to  the  weather, 
negligence  of  appearance,  want  of  cleanliness,  bad 
lodging,  and  poor  diet,  are  always  seen  to  impair  the 
beauty  of  the  human  form,  and  the  clearness  of  the 
skin.  Hence  it  results,  that  savages  never  can  be 
perfectly  fair.  But  when  savage  habits  corcur  with 
the  influence  of  an  ardent  sun,  or  an  unv/holesome 
atmosphere,  the  complexion  of  the  people  will  par- 
take of  a  tinge  more  or  less  dark  in  proportion  to 
the  predominance  of  one,  or  of  both  of  these  causes. 
Their  features  will  be  more  coarse  and  hard,  and 
their  persons  less  robust  and  athletic  than  those  of 
men  in  civilized  society  who  enjoy  its  advantages 
with  temperance.* 


*  A  few  examples,  perhaps,  may  occur  among  savages  of 
strong  and  muscular  bodies,  or  of  regular  and  agreeuble  fea- 
tures ;  as  in  civilized  society  we  meet  with  some  rare  instuBces 
of  extraordinary  beauty.  Yet  it  is  certain  tliat  tlie  counte- 
nance of  savage  life  is  cemmonly  much  more  uncoutli  and 
coarse,  more  unmeaning  and  wild,  as  will  afterwards  more  dis- 
tinctly appear  when  I  come  to  point  out  its  causes,  than  the 
countenance  formed  in  polished  society.  And  the  person  ii 
generally  more  slender,  and  rather  fitted  for  the  activity  of  the 
chace,  than  for  great  exertions  of  strength.  An  American  in* 
dian  is  commonly  swift,  but  seldom  athletic.  And  it  has  been 
remarked  in  tlie  many  expcdiuuns  wliich  have  been  ur  dertaken 
against  the   savages  by  the  people  of  these  States,  that  the 


156 

As  a  state  of  savagism  increases  the  injurious  in- 
fluence of  climates  which  are  unfriendly  to  the 
complexion  or  fine  proportions  of  the  human  consti- 
tution ;  civilization,  on  the  other  hand,  by  its  innu- 
merable arts  and  conveniences,  contributes  to  correct 
that  hurtful  influence.  The  comfortable  protection 
of  clothing  and  lodging, — the  plenty  and  nutritious 


sti'ength  of  an  Anglo-American,  in  single  combat,  is  usually, 
superior  to  that  of  un  indian  of  the  same  size.  The  muscles, 
likewise,  on  which  the  fine  proportions  of  the  person  so  much 
depend,  are  generally  smaller  and  more  lax  in  them  than 
rvmong  a  civili^^ed  people  who  are  not  corrupted  by  lux- 
ury, or  debilitated  by  sedentary  occupations.  Their  linibs, 
thci'efore,  though  straight,  are  less  beautifully  turned. — A  de- 
cep  ion  often  passes  upon  the  senses  in  judging  of  the  beauty 
ol  i-a/ages  ;  and  it  is  often  very  injudiciously  exaggerated  in 
description.  We  do  not  expect  beauty  in  savage  life.  When, 
therefore,  we  happen  to  perceive  it,  the  contrast  which  it  pre- 
sents to  us^with  the  usual  condition  of  men  in  that  state  affects 
the  mind  with  a  degree  of  surprize  that  very  much  promotes 
the  deception.  And  the  exalted  descriptions  of  savage  beauty 
which  we  sometimes  rcr.d  are  true  only  by  comparison  with 
savciges.  There  is  a  difference,  in  this  respect,  between  man, 
and  the  inferior  animals  which  were  formed  to  run  wild  in 
the  forest.  They  are  always  most  beautiful  when  they  en- 
joy their  native  liberty.  They  decay  and  droop  when  attempt- 
ed to  be  confined  and  domesticated.  But  man,  being  designed 
for  society,  and  civilization,  attains,  in  that  state,  the  greatest 
bcaiity  of  the  human  form,  as  well  as  the  highest  perfection  of 
liis  whole  nature. 


157 

qualities  of  food,  and  the  skilful  means  of  preparing  it 
for  use,  and  rendering  it  more  healthful. — a  country- 
freed  from  noxious  effluvia,  and  subjected  to  culti- 
vation,— the  constant  study  of  elegance,  with  im- 
proved ideas  of  a  standard  of  beauty  for  the  human 
form, — and  the  continual  efibrt  made  to  approxi- 
mate this  standard,  in  ourselves,  or  to  form  our  chil- 
dren to  it  by  a  proper  culture,  give  an  immense  ad- 
vantage, in  this  respect,  to  cultivated  society  o\  er 
savage  life. 

2.  I  come  now  to  observe,  what  is  of  much  more 
importance  on  this  part  of  the  subject,  that  all  the 
features  of  the  human  countenance  are  modijied^  and 
its  whole  expression,  in  a  great  measure,  formed  by 
the  state  of  society  in  which  men  exist. 

Every  idea,  and  every  emotion  which  is  excited 
in  the  mind,  aifects,  in  some  degree,  the  features  of 
the  countenance,  the  index  of  our  feelings,  and  con- 
tributes to  form  its  infinitely  various  lineaments. 
Paucity  of  ideas,  and  of  objects  to  call  forth  the  ex-^ 
ercise  of  the  understanding  or  the  passions,  marks 
the  countenance  with  a  vacant  and  unmeaning  as* 
pect.  Agreeable  and  cultivated  scenes  enliven  and 
anuTiate  the  features,  and  tend  to  render  them  regu- 
lar and  soft.     Wild  and  solitary  forests  impress  on 


158 

the  countenance  some  image  of  their  own  rudeness. 
Considerable  varieties  are  created  even  by  diet,  and 
the  different  modes  of  preparing  it  for  use.  A  diet 
composed  chiefly  of  raw  and  uncooked  meats  is 
generally  accompanied  with  ferocity  of  aspect.  And 
among  the  various  methods  of  preparing  food  in 
civilized  nations,  some  are  undoubtedly  more 
favorable  to  health  and  vigor,  and  consequently 
to  personal  beauty,  than  others.  Hard  fare,  and 
exposure  to  the  injuries  of  the  weather  render  the 
features  of  savages,  and  the  poorer  c'asses  of  society, 
coarse  and  uncouth.  The  infinitely  diversified  at- 
tentions of  men  in  polished  society  give  great  flexi- 
bility and  variety  to  the  expression  of  the  counte- 
nance. The  defect  of  interesting  emotions,  or  of  the 
habits  of  attention,  and  thought,  leave  its  muscles 
lax  and  unexerted  ;  whence  they  assume  a  swoln 
appearance,  and  distend  themselves  to  a  grosser 
size.*  A  o-eneral  and  national  standard  of  beauty, 
likewise,  which  is  usually  aimed  at  in  civilized  soci- 
ety, and  which,  in  some  respects,  is  various  in  dif- 
ferent countries,  has  its  effect  in  forming  the  fea- 

*  Several  of  tliesc  reflections  shall  be  illustrated  more  ia 
detail  hereafter. 


159 

tures  and  fashioning  the  person.  Every  passion, 
every  emotion,  every  thought  which  passes  through 
the  mind  has  its  peculiar  expression.  Each  single 
touch,  if  I  may  speak  so,  may  be  so  fine  as  to  be  im- 
perceptible ;  but  frequent  repetition  will  at  length, 
trace  on  the  countenance  very  distinct  lineaments. 
And  these  minute  causes  may  again  vary  their 
effects  according  to  their  respective  degrees  of 
strength,  according  to  their  combination  with  other 
principles,  and  according  to  the  constitutional  pccu- 
liai-ities  of  individuals,  or  of  nations,  that  form  the 
ground  on  which  the  different  impressions  are  re- 
ceived. And,  inasmuch  as  the  advances  made  in 
the  arts,  the  prevalent  ideas,  pursuits,  and  moral 
habits  of  men  in  different  countries,  and  under  dif- 
ferent forms  of  government,  are  infinitely  various, 
they  open  a  boundless  field  for  variety  in  the  human 
countenance.  It  is  impossible  to  enumerate  all 
these  minute  varieties.*     They  are  not  the  same  in 


*  From  various  combinations  of  the  causes  that  have  been 
suggested,  and  others  of  a  similar  nature,  we  often  see  differ- 
ent characters  of  countenance,  and  habits  of  body,  and  even  dif- 
ferent habitual  attitudes,  and  modes  of  moving  the  person,  not 
only  in  different  nations,  but  in  different  cities,  and  districts  be- 
longing to  the  sume  country.     I/ibavius,  a  German  author,  re- 


160 

any  two  nations,  nor  in  the  same  nation  in  any  two 
ages.  It  would  be  unnecessary  to  enumerate  them^ 
as  my  object  is,  not  to  enable  my  readers  to  be- 
come physiognomists,  but  to  suggest  a  proper  mode 

marked  above  two  centuries  ago,  this  variety  in  his  own  nation.- 
"  There  is  one  countenance,  says  he,  belongs  to  the  Tlunin-' 
gians,  another  to  the  Saxons,  and  a  different  one  to  the 
Swedes.  Indeed  each  Adlhige  ahnost  has  something,  in  this 
respect,  peculiar  to  itself,  so  thut  a  person  who  would  accurate- 
ly attend  to  this  subject  might  nearly  pronounce  on  the  coun- 
try of  a  man  from  his  physiognomy,  "-i— Yet  besides  these 
smaller  local  diffei'cnccs,  there  is  commonly  a  general  cast  of 
countenance,  arising  from  the  influence  of  government,  reli- 
gion, civil  occupations,  and  other  causes,  which  belongs  to 
each  nation,  and  serves  to  distinguish  it  from  otliers. 

In  conformity  with  the  observation  of  Libavius,  and  with 
\vhat  I  have  said  above.  Camper  remarks  that  it  is  easy  to  dis- 
tinguish at  the  first  view,  Jews  from  Christiims,  Spaniaixls- 
from  Frenchmen,  or  Germans,  and  these  again  from  English- 
men. We  can  distinguish,  says  he,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
South  of  France  from  those  of  the  North,  except  where  they 
have  been  blended  by  marriage.  The  cities  of  Holland,  where 
so  many  people  have  been  mingled  together,  no  longer  present 
to  us  distinct  features  of  a  national  countemaice.  The  inluibit- 
ants  of  the  islands  only  still  possess  their  primitive  features  en- 
tire. In  Frieslai^d,  for  example,  the  inhabittuits  of  Hindelo- 
pen,  Molkwerum,  and  Koudum,  still  exhibit  their  thin  face, 
and  their  length  of  jaw ;  while  those  of  Bildt,  by  their  short 
face  all  crowded  together,  differ  entirely  from  their  nearest 
ivcighbors,  who  inhabit,  however,  the  most  ancient  portiort 
of  the  country. 

Each  people  then  forms  to  itself  some  distinguisiung  national 


161 

«f  reasoning  on  each  new  difference  among  matt- 
kind  as  it  occurs  to  our  observation. 

For  this  purpose,  I  shall  endeavour,  in  the  first 
place,  to  evince  by  several  facts  and  illustrations, 
that  the  state  of  society  in  which  men  live  has  a 
powerful  influence  in  varying  the  character  of  the 
countenance,  and  even  in  changing  the  habit,  and 
appearance  of  the  whole  person. 

And,  in  the  next  place,  to  shew  that  some  of  the 
most  distinguishing  features  of  the  savage,  and 
particularly  of  the  American  savage,  with  whom  we 
are  best  acquainted,  naturally  result  from  the  rude 
condition  in  which  he  exists. 

The  influence  of  the  state  of  society,  and  of  the 
modes  of  life  which  prevail  among  different  nations. 


traits,  till  at  length  the  mixture  of  different  nations  coming  lii 
among  them  effaces  this  characteristic  distinction.  Wars,  mi- 
grations, commercial  intercourse,  have  so  confounded  nations, 
anciently  posited  at  the  greatest  distances  from  one  another, 
that  we  can  no  longer  perceive  that  primitive  and  specific  im- 
pression which  originally  distinguished  them.  As  most  neigh- 
boring countries,  however,  form  in  time  pretty  intimate  con- 
nections, they  become  gradually  so  blended,  that  now  wc  do 
not  often  perceive  very  striking  and  characteristic  diflerencea 
of  national  countenance  but  ariiong  people  whose  actual,  or  pre- 
sent positions  are  removed  from  one  another  at  very  consider- 
able intervals.     Chap.  i.  p.  13,  14. 

u 


162 

or  tribes  of  men,  to  produce  some  variety  or  changfe 
ill  the  complexion,  and  even  in  the  form  and  pro- 
portions of  the  person,  may  receive  illustration  from 
the  variety  of  aspect  exhibited  by  the  higher  and 
lower  classes  into  which  the  people  of  almost  all  na- 
tions are  divided ;  and  who  may  be  regarded,  in  some 
degree,  as  men  in  different  states  of  society. 

The  poor  and  laboring  part  of  the  community  in 
every  country,  are  usually  more  dark  in  their  com- 
plexion, morehai'd  in  their  features,  and  more  coai'se 
and  ill  formed  in  their  limbs,  than  persons  of  better 
rank,  who  enjoy  greater  ease,  and  more  liberal 
means  of  subsistence.  They  want  the  delicate  tints 
of  colour,  the  pleasing  regularity  of  features,  and  the 
elegant  and  fine  proportions  of  the  person  so  fre» 
quently  seen  in  the  higher  classes.  Many  particu- 
lar exceptions  undoubtedly  there  are.  Luxury  may 
disfigure  the  one, — a  fortunate  coincidence  of  cir- 
cumstances may  give  a  happy  assemblage  of  fea- 
tures to  the  other.*     But  these  exceptions  will  not 


*  It  should  be  kept  in  mind  through  the  whole  of  tlie  follow^ 
ing  illustrations,  that,  when  mei^tion  is  made  of  the  superior 
beauty  of  persons  m  the  higher  classes  of  society,  the  remark 
is  general.  It  is  not  intended  to  deny  tliat  there  exist  many 
exceptions  both  of  deformity  among  the  great,  and  of  beauty 


163 

invalidate  the  general  observation.  The  distinctioi'Ks 
which  subsist  between  the  several  classes  of  society 
become  more  considerable  by  time,  after  families 
have  held,  for  ages,  nearly  the  same  stations.  But 
they  are  more  conspicuous  in  those  countries  in 
which  the  laws  or  customs  of  the  nation  have  made 
the  most  complete  and  permanent  discrimination  of 
ranks.  In  Scotland,  for  example,  how  wide  is  the 
difference  between  the  chiefs  of  the  Highland  clans, 
and  the  tenants  and  laborers  of  the  land  !  A  simi- 
lar distinction  takes  place  between  the  nobility  and 
peasantry  of  France,  of  Spain,  of  Italy,  of  Germany, 
and  especially  of  Poland,  because  there  the  vassalage 
of  the  peasantry  is  more  oppressive  than  in  any 
other  country  in  Europe.  The  noble,  or  military 
class  in  India  has  been  pronounced  by  some  travel- 
lers to  be  composed  of  a  different  race  of  men  from 
the  populace  who  are  their  traders,  and  artizans ;  be- 
cause,   the  former,   elevated  by  their  rank  above 

them,  and  devoted  only  to  martial  studies  and  at- 
chievements,  are  distinguished  by  that  manly  beau- 


among  the  poor.  And  the  general  remark  is  intended  to  be 
•applied  only  to  those  who  enjoy  tlieir  fortune  with  temperance; 
because  luxury  and  intemperance  tend  equally  with  extrem.^ 
poverty  and  hardships  to  disfigure  the  person. 


164 

ty  so  frequently  found  united  with  the  profession  of 
arms ;  the  latter,  poor  and  laborious,  exposed  to  in- 
numerable hardships  and  privations,  and  left,  by  their 
laws  and  their  religion,  without  the  hope  of  improv- 
ing their  condition,  or  the  spirit  to  attempt  it,  have 
become  timid  and  servile  in  the  expression  of  their 
countenance,  diminutive,  and  often  deformed  in  their 
persons,  and  marked  by  a  deeper  shade  than  their 
superiors  in  their  complexion.  In  France,  says 
Buffbn,  you  may  distinguish  by  their  appearance, 
not  only  the  nobility  from  the  peasantry,  but  the  su- 
perior orders  of  nobility  from  the  inferior,  these  from 
the  citizens,  and  the  citizens  from  the  peasants. 
You  may  even  distinguish  the  peasants  of  one  part 
of  the  country  from  those  of  another,  according  to 
the  fertility  of  the  soil,  or  the  nature  of  its  product. 
— And  1  have  been  assured  by  a  most  judicious  and 
accurate  observer  of  men  and  manners,  a  native  of 
Scotland,*  that  there  is  a  sensible  and  striking  dif- 
ference between  the  people  in  the  eastern,  and  those 
in  the  western  counties  of  that  kingdom.  The  far- 
mers who  cultivate  the  fertile  lands  of  the  Lothians 


*  The  late  Rev.  Dr.  Witherspoon,  President  of  the  CoIleg,c. 
»f  New -Jersey. 


165 

have  generally  a  fairer  complexion,  and  a  better 
figure,  than  those  who  live  in  the  West,  and  draw  a 
more  coarse  and  scanty  subsistence  from  a  thin  and 
ungrateful  soil.-'^ 


*  It  is  well  known  to  those  who  have  been  accustomed 
«areiuiiy  to  observe  human  nature,  that  coarse  and  meagre 
food  is  commonly  unfavorable  both  to  softness  and  regularity 
of  features,  and  to  the  fairness  of  the  complexion.  Every 
«hange  of  diet,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  and  every  variety 
in  the  manner  of  cooking  and  preparing  it  for  use,  is  accom- 
panied with  some  alteration  in  the  system.  I  have  several 
limes  witnessed,  in  my  own  family?  and  in  those  of  my  friends, 
the  most  pleasing  changes  take  place  in  poor  children  taken  in 
to  service  for  a  term  of  years,  who,  in  a  short  period  have  ex- 
changed their  sallow  skin,  and  emaciated  uppearauce,  tlie  ef- 
fect of  want  and  hardship,  for  a  healthful  countenance,  and 
clear  complexion. 

Difference  of  food,  and  treatment  equally  affects  the  inferior' 
animals.  The  flesh  of  many  species  of  gaiiie  differs  both  in 
■colour  and  in  flavor  according  to  the  nature  of  the  grcurids  on 
which  they  have  fed.  The  flesh  of  hares,  it  is  remarked  by 
Buffon,  that  have  fed  on  high  lands  is  much  fairer  than  of  those 
which  have  fed  in  vallies,  and  in  damp  places.  And  every 
keeper  of  cattle  knows  how  much  the  firmness  c.nd  flavor  of  the 
jneat  depends  upon  the  manner  of  feeding.  According  to  the 
nature  of  the  food,  and  the  care  and  treatment  bestowed  upon 
them,  all  domestic  animals  are  infinitely  varied  in  size  and  shape. 
The  Spaniards  infoiTn  us  that  the  swine  in  Cuba  grow  to  nearly 
double  the  size  of  their  parent  stock  in  Europe.  And  accord- 
ing to  the  testimony  of  Clavigero,  black  cattle  arrive  at  a 
much  greater  volume  of  body  in  the  rich  forests,  and  the  tem- 
perate climate  of  Paraguay,  than  the  cattle  of  Spain,  from  whiclr 


166 

That  resi^ectable  naturalist  Forster,  \v'ho  accom- 
panied Capt.  Cook  in  his  last  voyage,  in  remarking 
on  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands  of  the  Great  South 
Sea,  observes,  with  regard  to  those  of  the-Society- 


theyhave  originany  sprung.  On  the  other  hand,  the  cattle,  in 
many  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  ia  Canada,  being  negli- 
gently housed,  and  fed,  during  our  rigorous  winters,  and  often 
left,  through  the  rest  of  the  year,  to  gather  a  scc.nty  subsist- 
ence from  the  pasturage  found  in  our  woods,  have  greatly 
degenerated  from  their  parent  stocks.  They  are  often  seen 
to  be  diminutive  tlirough  defect  of  nourishment,  and  de- 
formed through  weakness,  which  exposes  them  to  many  ac- 
cidents, and  distorts  their  limbs,  by  their  inability,  especially 
in  the  spring  season,  to  bear  firmly  their  own  weight.  Some 
such  facts  occurring  to  the  observation  of  Europeans  who  had 
visited  this  country,  gave  occasion  to  the  Abbe  Raynal  to  pro- 
nounce the  American  climate  unfavorable  to  the  growth  and 
vigor  of  animal  bodies.  That  rapid  philosopher  saw  the  effects, 
and  had  not  patience  to  enquire  into  the  pi-oper  cause  of  them  ; 
and  with  characteristic  boldness,  a  boldness,  indeed,  which  we 
sec  too  often  imitated  by  European  travellers  and  philosophers, 
pronounced  liis  decision. 

Many  animals,  by  the  manner  in  vvhich  they  are  fed  and 
trained  may  be  brought  to  change,  and  apparently  to  lose,  the 
characteristic  properties  of  their  nature.  Forster  remarks  of 
the  dogs  of  Otalicitec,  which  are  kept,  along  with  their  hogs, 
and  poultry,  merely  for  food,  and  which  are  nourished  chiefly 
v.n  fruits  and  roots,  tlic  island  furnishing  little  or  no  game,  have 
become  most  inactive  and  lazy  animals.  Their  heads  grow- 
larger  than  is  common  to  the  species  ;  and,  in  their  extreme 
sluggishness,  they  are  hardly  ever  heard  to  bark;  but  utter  their 
lajxgjiid  and  <ir>cai,y  fceliiig'3  only  in  a  kiixl  of  howling. 


167 

Isles,  that  the  Towtows,  or  common  class  of  the  peo- 
ple, who  are  the  laborers,  and,  consequently,  much 
exposed  to  the  influence  of  the  sun  in  fulfilling  their 
tasks,  antl  who,  besides,  are  nourished  with  a  less 
succulent  and  abundant  provision  of  food,  than  the 
Arees,  or  dominant  class,  are  also  inferior  in  their 
stature,  not  so  handsomely  formed  in  their  persons, 
and  considerably  darker  in  their  complexion.  As 
is  natural,  however,  from  their  habit  of  carrying- 
heavy  burdens,  they  are,  in  general,  more  firmly  knit 
in  their  joints,  and  stout  in  their  limbs. 

If,  in  England,  as  is  said,  there  exists  not  so  great 
a  difference  in  personal  appearance  between  the  high- 
er, and  the  lower  classes  of  society  as  in  other  coun- 
tries of  Europe,  it  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  liberty  en- 
joyed under  the  British  constitution,  and  to  the  more 
general  diffusion  of  wealth  among  the  people,  which 
lessens,  in  some  measure,  the  distance  between  the 
ranks  of  their  nobles,  and  their  commons.  SciencCj 
and  military  talents  open  the  way  to  the  highest  dis- 
tinctions in  that  nation.  The  peculiar  institutions, 
genius,  and  pursuits  of  the  people  favor,  in  an  un- 
usual degree,  the  acquisition  of  wealth  by  the  lowest 
orders  of  citizens.  And  these  not  being  prohibited 
by  the  laws,  or  customs  of  the  nation  from  aspiring 


168 

to  matrimonial  connexions  with  the  highest  ranks, 
the  different  classes  are  frequently  seen  to  be  vari- 
ously blended  together.  Often  you  find  in  citizen* 
the  beautiful  figure  and  complexion  of  the  noblest 
blood ;  and  in  noble  houses  tlie  coarse  features  form- 
ed in  lower  life. 

In  America  we  have  not  the  distinction  of  patri- 
cian and  plebeian  ranks.     And   the  frequency  of 
migration,  in  a  new  and  extensive  country,  has  not 
suffered  any  peculiar  habits  of  life  or  local  manners, 
deeply  to  impress  a  distinctive  character  on  the  peo- 
ple of  any  state.     Great  equality  of  condition  in  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  similarity  of  occupa- 
tions, and  nearly  the  same  degree  of  cultivation,  and 
social  improvement  pervading  the  whole,  have  pro- 
duced such  uniformity  of  character,  that,  as  yet,  they 
are  not  strongly  marked  by  such  differences  in  the 
expression  of  the  countenance,  the  composition  of 
their  features,  or  generally  in  their  personal  proper- 
ties, as,  in  other  countries,  mark  the   grades  be. 
tween  the  superior  and  inferior  orders  of  the  people. 
And  yet  there  are  beginning  to  be  formed  certain 
habits  of  countenance,  the  result  chiefly  of  manners, 
which  already  serve,  to  a  certain  degree,  to  distin- 
guish the  natives  of  some  of  the  states  from  those  of 


169 

others.*  Hereafter,  doubtless,  they  will  advance 
into  more  considerable,  and  characteristic  distinc* 
tions. 

If  the  white  population  of  America  affords  us  less-r 
conspicuous  instances,  than  many  other  nations,  of 
that  variety  of  countenance,  and  of  personal  beauty 
or  defect  arising  from  diversity  of  rank,  and  refine- 
ment in  society,  the  blacks  in  the  southern  states 
afford  one  that  is  highly  worthy  the  attention  of  phi- 
losophers. 

The  field  slaves  are,  in  comparison  with  the  do- 
mestics, badly  fed,  clothed,  and  lodged.  They  live 
together  in  small  collections  of  huts  on  the  plantations 
on  which  they  labor,  remote  from  the  society  and  ex- 
ample of  their  superiors.  Confined,  in  this  manner, 
to  associate  only  with  tliemselves,  they  retain  many 
customs  of  their  African  ancestors.  And  pressed 
with  labor,  and  dejected  by  servitude,  and  the  hu- 

*  In  some  of  tlie  New  England  states,  for  example,  we  re- 
mark, in  the  body  of  the  people,  a  certain  composed  and  seri- 
ous gravity  in  the  expression  of  the  countenance,  the  result  of 
the  sobriety  of  their  domestic  education,  and  of  their  moral  and 
religious,  their  industrious  and  economical  habits,  v.hich 
pretty  obviously  distinguishes  them  from  the  natives  of  mesS 
of  the  states  ui  the  southern  portion  of  the  Union. 

w 


170 

miliating  circumstances  in  which  they  find  them- 
selves, they  have  little  ambition  to  improve  their  per- 
sonal  appearance  ;  and  their  oppressed  condition  con- 
tributes to  continue,  in  a  considerable  degree,  the 
deformities  of  their  original  climate.  The  domestic 
servants,  on  the  other  hand,  who  remain  near  the 
persons",  and  are  employed  within  the  families  of 
their  masters,  are  treated  with  great  lenity,  their  ser- 
\ice  is  light,  they  are  fed  and  clothed  like  their  supe- 
riors ;  insensibly,  they  receive  the  same  ideas  of  ele- 
gance and  beauty,  and  discover  a  great  facility  in 
adopting  their  manners.  This  class  of  slaves,  there- 
fore, has  advanced  far  before  the  others  in  acquiring 
the  regular  and  agreeable  features,  and  the  expres- 
sive countenance,  which  can  be  formed  only  in  the 
midst  of  civilized  society.  The  former  are,  gene- 
rally, ill  shaped.  They  preserve,  in  a  great  degree, 
the  x\frican  lips,  nose,  and  hair.  Their  genius  is 
dull,  and  the  expression  of  their  countenance  sleepy 
and  stupid.  The  latter  frequently  exhibit  very 
straight  and  well  proportioned  limbs.  Their  hair 
is  often  extended  to  three  and  four  inches,  and, 
sometimes,  to  a  greater  length.  The  size  and  form 
of  the  mouth  is,  in  many  instances,  not  unhand- 
some, and  sometimes  even  beautiful ;   the  composi-^ 


171 

iion  of  their  features  is  regular,*  their  capacity  good^ 
aiid  their  look  animated. 

Another  example  of  the  power  of  society  in  form- 
ing the  countenance  is  well  known  to  all  those  who 
are  acquainted  with  the  savage  tribes  spread  along 
the  frontiers  of  these  states.     Among  them  you  fre- 


*  The  features  of  the  negroes  in  America,  especially  of 
those  who  reside  immeciidtely  in  the  famiiies  of  their  masters, 
have  undergone  a  great  change,  while  the  complexion  is  not 
yet  sensibly  altered.  The  form  and  expression  of  the  counte- 
nance, and  composition  of  the  features  being  principuliy  uffect- 
ed  by  the  state  of  society,  are  constantly  receiving  some  mod- 
ification from  that  cause,  to  improve  the  negro  visage.  But 
the  rays  of  the  sun  which  requii'e,  in  our  climate,  the  gi'eatest 
care  to  prevent  theni  from  darkening  the  fairest  skin,  may  be 
sufficient,  in  the  exposed  condition  of  the  slave,  to  prevent  a 
skin  already  black  from  becoming  fair.  The  countenance  of 
the  domestic  slaves  of  the  third  and  fourth  race,  and,  in  many 
instances,  even  of  the  second,  affords  a  striking  example  of 
the  influence  of  the  state  of  society  upon  the  features.  And 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that,  if  these  people  were  perfectly 
free,  and  were  admitted  to  all  the  civil  privileges  of  their 
masters,  they  would,  in  a  short  period,  have  few  of  the  dis- 
tinctive traces  of  their  African  ancestors  remaining,  except 
their  complexion.  In  the  state  of  New-Jersey,  where  the 
hardships  of  slavery  are  scarcely  felt,  we  see  great  numbers  of 
negroes  who  have  the  nose  as  much  raised  from  the  face,  the 
forehead  as  well  arched,  and  the  teeth  as  perpendicularly  set  in 
their  sockets,  as  the  whites.  Some  negroes  I  see  daily  in 
Princeton  and  its  vicinity  who  have  the  nose  turned  with  ». 
iiandsome  aquiline  curve. 


172 

quently  meet  with  persons  who  haAC  been  taken 
captive  in  infar.cy  from  Anglo-American  families, 
and  grown  up  in  tlie  habits  of  savage  life.  These 
deRcendents  of  the  fairest  Europeans  universally  con- 
tract such  a  resemblance  of  the  natives,  in  their 
countenance,  and  even  in  their  complexion,  as  not 
to  be  easily  distinguished  from  them  ;  and  afford  a 
striking  proof  that  the  differences  in  physiognomy, 
between  the  Anglo-American,  and  the  indian  de- 
pend principally  on  the  state  of  society.^ 


*  The  resemblance  between  these  captives  and  the  native 
savages  is  so  strong  as  sensibly  to  strike  every  observer.  Be- 
ing taken  in  infa.ncy,  before  the  ideas  and  habits  of  civilized  so- 
ciety could  have  made  any  deep  impressions  upon  them,  and 
spending  that  tender  and  forming  age  in  the  solitude  and  rude- 
ness of  savage  life,  they  grow  up  with  the  same  apathy  of  coun- 
tenance, the  same  lugvibrious  wildness,  the  same  swelling  of 
the  features  and  muscles  of  the  face,  the  same  fonu  and  atti- 
tude of  the  limbs,  and  the  same  characteristic  gait,  which  is  a 
great  clevc.tion  of  the  feet,  with  the  toe  somewhat  turned  in. 
Exposed  without  covering,  to  the  constant  action  of  the  sun, 
and  of  the  weather,  amidst  all  the  hardships  of  the  savage  state, 
their  colour  tends  to  a  coppery  bi  own. — This  example  affords 
another  proof  of  the  greater  ease  witli  which  a  dark  colour  may 
be  stained  on  a  skin  originally  fair,  than  effaced  from  it.  The 
causes  of  colour  arc  active  in  their  operation,  and,  entering  in- 
to the  substance  of  the  skin,  soon  make  a  durable  impression. 
"White  is  the  original  ground  on  which  this  operation  is  receiv- 
ed.    And  the  M'hitcness  of  die  skin  is  to  be  preserved  only  by 


173 

The  College  of  New-Jersey,  a  few  years  ago,  fur- 
nished a  counterpart  to  this  example.  A  young  in- 
dian,  about  the  age  of  fifteen,  who  had  been  brought 
from  his  nation  five  or  six  years  before,  was  study- 
ing the  latin  and  greek  languages  in  the  institution. 


carefully  protecting  it  from  the  action  of  these  causes.  Protec- 
tion has  merely  a  negati~oe  influence  :  applied,  therefore,  to  a 
skin  already  discoloured,  it  will  be  slow  in  producing  any 
change  towards  white  as  long  as  the  smallest  degree  oi  fiositlve 
agency  is  suffered  from  the  original  causes  of  discolouration. 
And,  as  the  skin  I'ctains  with  great  constancy  impressions  once 
received  into  its  substance,  all  the  dark  shades  of  the  complex- 
ion will  be  very  long  retcdned.  That  period  of  time,  therefore, 
which  would  be  sufficient,  in  a  savage  state,  to  change  a  fair 
complexion,  to  the  darkest  hue  which  the  climate  can  impress, 
■would  hardly  remove  one  shade  from  a  black  colour.  Unless, 
then,  the  climate  be  such  as  to  operate  very  great  changes  on 
the  mternal  constitution  of  the  body,  and  to  alter  the  whole 
state  of  the  secretions,  as  well  as  to  defend  it  from  the  fervid 
action  of  the  sun,  the  negro  colour  may,  by  the  exposure  and 
hardships  of  a  poor  and  servile  condition,  be  rendered  per- 
petual. 

In  what  page  of  the  essay  has  a  certain  annotator  in  the  edi- 
tion of  Rees'  Cyclopaedia  published  by  Bradford  &  Co.  in  Phi- 
ladelphia, found  it  asserted,  that  the  negro  complexion  has 
hitlierto  become  sensibly  lighter  in  America  ?  If  he  has  any 
candor,  and  possesses,  in  any  degree,  the  information  which 
ought  to  distinguish  a  man  who  presumes  to  be  an  arnotator 
on  that  work,  he  will  be  ashamed  of  the  indiscretion  and  incor- 
l-ectness,  to  give  them  the  softest  names  they  will  bear,  of, 
some  of  his  remarks  imder  the  title,  Complexion. 


174 

And  from  carefully  observing  him  during  the  greater 
portion  of  that  time  I  received  the  most  perfect 
conviction  that,  if  the  Anglo-American,  and  the  in- 
dian  were  placed  from  infancy  in  the  same  state  of 
societ}-,   in  this  climate  which  is  common  to  them 
both,  the  principal  differences  which  now  subsist 
between  the  two  races,  would,  in  a  great  measure,  be 
removed  when  they  should  arrive  at  the  period  of 
puberty.     This  young   savage   had   been   too   far 
advanced  in  the  habits  of  his  people,  before  he  was  in- 
troduced into  civil  society,  to  render  the  experiment 
compleat :  for,  all  impressions  received  in  the  ten- 
der and  pliant  state  of  the  human  constitution  before 
the  age  of  seven  years,  or,  at  the  utmost,  of  nine  or 
ten,  are  usually  more  deep  and  permanent  than  those 
made  in  any  future,  and   equal  period  of  life.     A 
perceptible  difference  still  existed,  at  the  time  of  his 
return  to  his  tribe,  between  him  and  his  fellow  stu- 
dents, in  the  largeness  of  the  mouth  and  thickness  of 
the  lips,  in  the  elevation  of  the  cheek   bone,  in  the 
darkness  of  the  complexion,  and  the  contour  of  the 
face.     These  differences  had  sensibly    diminished 
from  the  period  of  his  coming  to  the  college :  and 
they  appeared  to  be  diminishing  the  faster  in  pro- 
|>ortion  as  he  lost  that  vacancy,  and  lugubrious  wild- 


175 

ness  of  countenance  peculiar  to  the  savage  state, 
and  began  to  acquire  the  agreeable  expression  of 
civil  life.  The  expression  of  the  eye,  and  the  soft^ 
ening  of  the  features  in  consequence  of  new  ideas 
and  emotions,  which  had  taken  birth  since  he  came 
into  society,  removed  the  chief  distinction,  except 
that  of  the  complexion,  which  had  been  visible  origin- 
ally between  him  and  his  companions.  Less  diiFer- 
ence  existed  at  length  between  his  features  and 
those  of  his  fellow  students  than  we  often  see  be- 
tween persons  of  the  same  nation.*  After  careful 
and  minute  attention,  and  comparing  each  feature 
with  the  cori'espondent  feature  in  many  of  his  com- 
panions, the  difference  was  very  small,  and  some- 
times haixlly  perceptible  ;  and  yet  there  was  an  ob- 

*  The  complexion  of  this  young  lad  was  not  of  so  dark  a  cop- 
per as  that  of  his  native  stock,  which  could  be  easily  discerned  by 
the  stain  of  blushing  in  his  cheek  which  is  never  perceived  in 
those  dark  coloured  tribes.  The  difference  of  these  effects, 
however,  in  them  and  m  him,  I  ascribe  rather  to  tlie  pains  used 
by  those  savages  to  increase  the  darkness  of  their  natural  hue 
by  filthy  paints,  and  other  means,  than  to  any  influence  in  the 
change  of  his  manner  of  living  to  remove  any  of  the  natural 
shades  of  the  indian  colour.  But  he  added  nothing  to  them, 
while  the  savages,  by  their  exposure  to  the  injuries  of  the 
weatlier,  and  the  hardships  of  their  state,  with  other  causes- 
vhich  have  been  mentioned,  are  continually  increasing  them.- 


176 

vious  difference  in  the  whole  countenance,  created 
I  believe  principally  by  the  impression  which  the 
complexion,  in  combination  with  the  other  varieties 
made  upon  the  eye.  A  few  comparisons  conduct- 
ed in  this  way  would  result,  I  am  persuaded,  in  the 
conviction  that  the  varieties  among  mankind  are 
much  less  considerable  than,  on  a  slight  inspection 
they  appear  to  be.  Each  single  trait  or  limb,  when 
examined  apart,  exhibits  no  difference  from  the  com- 
mon properties  of  the  species  which  may  not  easily 
be  accounted  for.  Particular  varieties  are  small. 
It  is  the  result  of  the  whole,  taken  in  at  one  impres- 
sion, which  appears  difficult  to  be  explained.  The 
combined  effect  of  many  minute  particulars  appears 
great,  and,  at  the  first  view,  unaccountable.  And  we 
have  not  patience,  or  skill,  it  may  be,  to  divide  this 
sum  into  its  least  portions,  and  to  perceive,  in  that 
state,  how  easy  it  is  of  solution. 

Under  the  head  of  the  state  of  society  are  com- 
prehended diet,  clothing,  lodging,  manners,  govern- 
ment, arts,  religion,  agricultural  improvements, 
commercial  pursuits,  habits  of  thinking,  and  ideas 
of  all  kinds  naturally  arising  out  of  this  state,  infin- 
ite in  number  and  variety.  If  each  of  these  causes 
be  admitted  to  possess,  as  undoubtedly  they  do,  a 


177 

small  influence  in  forming  the  character  of  the  coun- 
tenance, the  different  combinations  and  results  of  the 
whole  must  necessarily  seem  great,  and,  united  with 
the  effects  of  climate,  which  have  been  alread}  in 
some  degree  explained  will  afford  sufficient  princi- 
ples on  which  to  account  for  all  the  varieties  that  ex- 
ist among  mankind. 

Another  cause  of  the  varieties  arising  out  of  the 
state  of  society  will  be  found  in  the  power  which 
men  possess  over  themselves,  of  producing  consid- 
erable changes  in  their  figure  and  appearance  accord- 
ing to  any  standard  of  beauty  which  they  may  have 
framed.  Each  nation  differs  from  others  as  much 
in  its  ideas  of  beauty  as  in  personal  appearance.  A 
Laplander  prefers  the  fiat,  round  faces  of  his  dark 
skinned  country  women  to  the  fairest  beauties  of 
England.  Whatever  be  the  standard  which  any 
people  have  formed  to  themselves,  there  is  a  general 
effort  to  attain  it ;  and  it  is  every  where  pursued 
with  more  or  less  ardor  and  success  in  proportion 
to  the  advantages  which  men  possess  in  society^ 
and  to  the  estimation  in  which  beauty  is  held. 

To  this  object  tend  the  infinite  pains  taken  in  so». 
ciety  to  compose  the  features,  and  to  form  the  atti- 


178 

tudes  of  children.  This  is  the  end  of  a  large  portion 
of  the  arts  of  polished  life.  How  many  drugs  are 
sold,  and  how  many  applications  are  made  for  the 
improvement  of  beauty  ?  How  many  artists  of  dif- 
ferent kinds  live  upon  this  idea  of  beauty  ?  If  chil- 
dren learn  to  dance  it  is  chiefly  in  order  to  improve 
and  to  display  their  beauty.  If  they  acquire  skill  in 
the  use  of  the  sword,  it  is  more  for  the  purpose  of 
improving  personal  beauty  than  for  defence.  If  this 
general  effort  for  appearance  sometimes  leads  the 
decrepid  and  deformed  into  absurdity,  and  produces 
fantastic  characters  among  the  young,  it  has,  how- 
ever, a  great  and  national  effect  in  forming  the  counte- 
nance, not  less  than  the  attitudes  and  movements  of 
the  person. 

Of  its  effect  in  creating  distinctions  among  nations 
in  which  different  ideas  of  personal  beauty  prevail, 
and  different  means  are  employed  to  reach  them,  wc 
may  frame  some  conception  from  the  differences 
that  take  place  in  the  same  nation,  in  which  similar 
ideas  exist,  and  similar  means  are  used  to  form  the 
person,  only  in  various  degrees.  What  a  difference 
between  the  soft  and  elegant  tints  of  complexion 
generally  seen  in  women  who  move  in  the  higher  cu'' 
cles  of  society,  and  the  coarse  ruddiness  of  the  vul 


179 

gar  ! — between  the  uncouth  features,  and  unpliant 
limbs  of  an  unpoUshed  rustic,  and  the  complacency 
of  countenance,  the  graceful  figure,  and  easy  air  and 
movement  of  persons  in  cultivated  life  ! — between 
the  sliaped  and  meaning  face  of  a  well  bred  lady, 
and  the  soft  and  plump  simplicity  of  a  country  girl ! 
—We  now  easily  account  for  these  varieties  which 
have  become  familiar  to  the  eye,  because  we  see  the 
operation  of  their  causes.  But  if  we  should  find  an 
entire  nation  distinguished  by  a  composition  of  feat- 
ures resembling  the  one,  and  another  by  the  contrary, 
they  would  have  as  fair  a  tide  to  be  ranked  under  dif- 
ferent species  by  certain  philosophers  as  the  Ger- 
man, and  the  Tartar.  The  general  countenance  of 
Europe  was,  probably,  more  various  several  centu- 
ries ago  than  at  present.  The  diiferences,  which 
arise  out  of  the  state  of  society  as  their  principal 
cause  are,  insensibly  wearing  away  in  proportion  as, 
in  the  progress  of  refinement,  the  manners  and  ideas 
of  the  European  nations  are  gradually  approximating 
one  standard.  But  the  efiect  of  a  common  standard 
of  beauty,  and  the  means  employed  by  our  own 
countrymen  to  form  their  persons  after  this  ideal 
model  are,  through  the  influence  of  custom,  and 
general  example,  often  little  observed.     The  means 


180 

used  by  other  nations,  who  aim  at  a  dift'erent  ideii, 
attracting  more  notice  by  their  novelty,  will,  there- 
fore, furnish  us  with  more  striking  examples.  Many 
of  the  nations  beyond  the  Indus,  as  well  as  the 
Tartars,  from  whom  they  have  derived  their  ori- 
gin,* universally  admire  small  eyes,  and  large  ears. 
They  are  at  great  pains,  therefore,  to  compress  their 
eye- lids  at  the  corners,  and  stretch  their  ears  by 
weights  appended  to  them,  or  by  drawing  them  fre- 
quently with  the  hand,  and  by  cutting  their  rims, 
so  that  they  may  hang  down  to  their  shoulders, 
which  they  consider  among  the  highest  ornaments 
of  their  persons. — For  a  like  reason,  they  extirpate 
the  hair  from  their  bodies  ;  and,  on  the  face,  they 
leave  only  a  few  tufts  here  and  there,  which  they 


*  It  is  probable  that  the  countries  of  India  and  China,  con- 
sidering the  pleasantness  of  those  inviting  climates,  were  ori- 
ginally inhabited  before  tlie  regions  of  Tartary.  But,  the  fre- 
quent conquests  to  which  they  have  since  been  subject,  parti- 
cularly, the  northern  pr.rts  of  India,  from  Tartarian  tribes,  have 
changed  the  habits,  ideas,  and  persons  of  the  people  even  more, 
perhaps,  than  Europe  was  changed  by  the  barbarians  who  ovcr- 
I'an  it  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries.  The  present  population 
of  Northern  India  is,  in  effect,  Tartarian,  onlychcUiged  to  softer 
features,  and  better  proportioned  persons,  by  a  milder  climate., 
and  a  more  improved  state  of  society. 


381 

shave.  ^  The  Tartars  often  extract  the  whole  hair  of 
the  head,  except  a  long  and  thick  tuft  on  the  crown 
which  they  braid  and  adorn  in  different  forms. — Sim- 
ilar ideas  of  beauty  with  regard  to  the  eyes,  the  ears, 
and  the  hair,  and  similar  customs  among  the  abori- 
ginal tribes  of  the  greater  portion  of  North- America 
are  no  inconsiderable  proofs  that  this  division  of  the 
continent  has  been  peopled  from  the  north-eastern 
regions  of  Asia.f     In  Greece,  Arabia,  and  other 

*  The  inhabitants  of  New  Zealand,  according  to  Mr.  Fors- 
ter,  although  they  do  not  extirpate  their  beards  with  tweezers, 
yet  cut  their  faces,  and  mai'k  them  witia  such  scars,  tlirough  a 
preposterous  idea  of  beauty,  or  manliness,  as  destroy  a  great 
part  of  the  hair. 

t  The  celebrated  Dr.  Robertson,  in  his  history  of  America, 
deceived  by  the  misinformation  of  hasty,  or  ignorant  observers, 
has  ventured  to  assert  that  the  natives  of  America  have  no  hidr 
on  the  face,  or  tlie  body  ;  and,  like  many  other  philosophers,  has 
set  himself  to  account  for  a  fact  which  does  not  exist.  They  do 
not  differ  in  this  respect  from  the  rest  of  the  human  r^  ce.  Dr. 
Blumenbach,  through  a  similar  error  in  his  information,  sup- 
poses that  their  hair  is  very  thin,  and  in  small  quantity.  Ou  the 
other  hand,  the  hair  of  our  native  Indians,  where  it  is  not  care- 
fully extirpated  by  art,  is  both  thick  and  long.  But  cureless 
travellers  seeing  their  smooth  fuces,  and  bald  heads  enquired 
no  farther  into  the  cause,  but  represented  the  fact  as  proceeding 
from  a  natural  debility  of  constitution  and  consequent  defi- 
ciency of  this  excrescence. 

Similarity  of  customs,  of  complexion,  and  countenance  be- 


182 

parts  of  the  East,  large  eyes  are  esteemed  beautiful ; 
and  in  these  countries  they  take  extaordinary  pains 
to  increase  their  aperture.  In  many  parts  of  India 
they  flatten  the  foreheads  of  their  children  in  infancy 
by  the  application  of  broad  plates  of  lead.  In  China 
they  compress  the  feet  of  .female  infants  by  tight 
•bandages.     Among  many  of  the  barbarous  tribes  of 


tween  the  North-American  indians,  and  north-eastern  Asiatics, 
gives  strong  indications  of  a  common  origin.  The  South- 
American  continent,  particularly  on  the  western  side,  gives  no 
less  striking  proofs  of  its  having  been  peopled  from  the  islands 
of  the  Great  South  Sea ;  as  they  were  peopled  originally  from 
the  South  of  Asia.  The  inhabitants  of  the  southern  portion  of 
the  Farther  India  are  evidently  of  Malayan  origm.  And  the 
same  people  you  trace  from  that  continent  through  a  succession 
of  islands  tiil  you  approach  the  western  side  of  America ; 
whence  a  population  of  the  same,  or  very  similar  character  ap- 
pears to  have  spread  from  Peru  and  Chili  along  the  Oronoco, 
and  the  different  tributaiy  streams  of  the  Maragnon.  And 
here  accordingly  you  meet  with  various  triljes  of  indians  of 
handsomer  form  and  featui'es  than  those  of  North -America, 
and  not  unlike,  in  their  appearaiice,  many  of  the  islanders  of 
the  South  Sea. — Remotely,  however,  these  people  have  all, 
probably,  the  same  origin.  The  Malays  are  of  Tartar  race, 
improved  by  the  mild  climate  of  Southern  Asia.  These,  pass- 
ing through  the  equally  mild  climates  of  the  Pacific  ocean  ap- 
pear to  have  reached  America  in  that  direction  ;  while  North- 
America  has  received  her  population  from  Tai'tary  through  the 
rougher  climates  of  Siberia. — Other  parts  of  this  continent  may 
have  received  many  accidental  emigrants  cast  upon  its  shores, 
in  a  long  succession  of  ages,  from  different  portions  of  the  Old 


185 

Africa,  and  in  the  northern  regions  of  Asia  they  en- 
deavour to  assist  the  influence  of  the  climate  by 
usin£^  violence  to  flatten  the  nose  of  every  infant  in 
order  to  mould  it  after  their  capricious  idea  of  beau- 
ty. The  American  Indians  study  to  render  the  na- 
tural darkness  of  their  complexion  deeper  by  dis- 
colouring paints  and  unguents  :  and  all  savages  es- 
teem certain  kinds  of  deformity  to  be  perfections; 
and  strive  to  increase  the  admiration  of  their  persons 
by  heightening  the  vvildness  of  their  features. 

I  might  proceed,  in  this  manner,  through  every 
country  on  the  globe,  pointing  out  the  many  arts 
which  are  practised  to  reach  some  favorite  idea  of 
the  human  form.  Arts  which  insensibly,  in  a  long 
course  of  time,  produce  great  and  striking  consequen- 
ces,* and  which,  although  commonly  supposed  to 

World.  The  nations  from  which  they  parted  may  have  been. 
civiUzed  ;  but  arriving  in  a  new  world,  without  skill  to  return, 
or  to  hold  any  intercourse  with  their  ancestral  seats,  and  press- 
ed by  their  immediate  wants,  and  the  difficulties  of  procuring 
subsistence  in  an  uncultivated  wilderness,  from  any  source  ex- 
cept from  hunting,  they  would  soon  lose  the  knowledge  of  all 
other  arts,  and  their  posterity  would  necessarily  become 
savages. 

*  National  ideas  of  beauty  may  often  have  their  source  in 
Uie  tendencies  of  the  clunate,  and  the  natural  influences  of  so- 


1^4 

aiFect  only- the  person  who  uses  them,  are  not  with- 
out their  influence  on  posterity. — The  process  of  na- 
ture in  this,  is  as  little  known,  as  in  all  her  other 
works :  but  the  fact  cannot  have  escaped  tlie  obser- 
vation of  those  who  have  paid  a  careful  attention  to 
her  operations.  Every  considerable  change  of  cch> 
lour,  feature,  or  figure  which  has  grown  into  a  habit 
of  the  body,  or  indicates  any  important  alteiation  in 
the  general  action  of  the  system  is  liable  to  be  trans* 
itiitted,  along  with  other  constitutional  properties,  to 
olTspring.  The  coarse  features  of  laboring  people^ 
created  by  great  hardships,  and  exposure  to  the  in-, 
juries  of  the  weather,  we  often  see  imparted.  The 
broad  feet  of  the  rustic,  spread  out  by  often  tread-, 
ing  the  soil  barefooted  ;  and  the  large  hand  and  arm, 
formed  by  constant  labor,  arc  often  discernible  in 
children.  The  increase,  diminution  or  change  of 
any  other  limbs,  or  features,  resulting  from  arts,  or 
national  habits  which  aim  at  forming  the  person 
after  any  peculiar  ideal  model  may,  in  like  manner^ 

oiety  ;  and  often  in  some  unaccountable  caprice  :  but.  whether 
derived  from  the  one  source,  or  the  other,  they  wiil  ever  hslve 
tipowcrlul  effect  in  formhio-  the  attitudes,  the  dv,  tlie  cou.po- 
silIdu  of-tiie  features,  and  the  whole  aspect  of  the  person. 


IS* 

became  hereditary.*  The  inferior  animals  afFord 
many  examples  to  prove  the  existence  of  this  liutu* 
ral  law.  The  figure,  the  colour,  and  many  other 
properties  of  the  breed  of  horses  are  easily  changed, 
by  those  who  have  skill  in  raising  them,  according  to 
almost  any  reigning  taste.  And  thty  are  equally 
susceptible  of  deterioration  by  neglect,  or  bv  im* 
proper  treatment.  Out  of  the  same  original  stocky 
the  Germans,  who  are  settled  in  Pennsylvania,  raise 
large  heavy  horses  for  the  draught;  the  Irish  in  the 
same  state,  by  a  different  mode  of  treatment,  raise  such 
only  as  are  much  smaller,  and  lighter  in  their  form. 
By  competent  skill,  and  the  application  of  propef 
pains,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  by  neglect,  or  ignorance, 
the  races  of  all  our  domestic  animals  may  be  almost 
infinitely  varied.  Human  nature  being  much  more 
pliant  than  that  of  most  other  animals,  and  being  af- 
fected by  a  much  greater  number  of  minute  causes, 
according  to  the  state  of  society  in  which  men  are 
placed,  is  susceptible,  also  of  a  much  greater  variety 
of  changes  from  their  operation.     And  among  these 

•  Is  this  more  difficult  to  be  conceiyed,  or  less  ^Torthy  of 
credit  than  that  constitutional  tendency  to  certain  diseases 
which,  it  is  now  acknowledged  by  all  physicians,  may  be  ren- 
dered hereditary  I 

X 


186 

causes,  that  which  I  have  mentioned  of  an  imaginary 
standard  of  the  human  form,  or  of  the  perfection  of 
social  manners,  is  not  the  least  influential.  It  is  for 
this  reason,  perhaps,  that  in  different  districts  of  the 
United  States,  in  which  emigrants  from  Holland,  or 
Germany,  or  France,  have  fixed  their  residence,  in 
ssuch  numbers  as,  hitherto,  to  have  been  able,  in  a 
great  measure,  to  preserve  their  original  habits,  and 
manners,  and,  consequently,  their  peculiar  ideas  of 
personal  beauty,  grace,  or  propriety  of  conduct,  they 
retain  also  a  strong  resemblance  of  the  primitive 
stocks  from  which  they  are  descended.  Whereas 
those  who  have  not  limited  their  intercourse  to  the 
circle  of  their  own  countrymen,  but  have  mingled 
freely  with  the  Anglo-Americans,  and  have  adopted 
their  manners,  and  habits  of  thinking,  have  contract- 
ed such  similitude  to  tliem  in  their  persons,  and  fea- 
tures that  it  is  now  not  easy  to  distinguish  from  one 
another,  people  whose  ancestors  were  discriminated 
by  most  obvious  national  characteristics. 

When  once  any  general  and  standard  idea  of  the 
beauty  of  the  human  pertoa  is  established  in  any  na- 
tion, connexions  in  marriage  will  be  greatly  infiuenc* 
ed  by  it.  And  tlicse  will  contribute,  in  no  incon* 
siderabie  degree,  to  perpetuate,  or  to  modify  the  n^ 


187 

tional  countenance.*  If  men,  in  the  union  of  the 
eexes,  were  as  much  under  control  as  some  of  the 
inferior  animals,  their  persons  might  be  moulded,  in 
the  course  of  a  few  generations,  to  almost  any  stand- 
ard, making  due  allowance  for  the  influence  of  cli- 
mate, and  the  necessary  operation  of  other  causes 
which  may  be  connected  with  it.  But  left  as  these 
connexions  commonly  are,  to  the  momentary  pas- 
sions, the  tasteless  caprice,  or  the  gross  interests  of 
individuals,  they  are  more  anomalous  in  their  effects. 
There  is,  however,  a  common  idea  which  men  in- 
sensibly to  themselves,  and  almost  without  design 
pursue.  And,  in  general,  they  pursue  it  with  more 
or  less  success  in  proportion  to  the  rank  and  taste  of 
the  different  classes  in  society,  where  accident  does 
not,  as  too  often  happens,  throw  beauty  into  the 
arms  of  deformity,  or  where,  in  others,  they  are 
governed  in  forijiing  this  connexion  by  interest  ever 


*  Perhaps  the  power  of  hnagination  in  pregnant  women, 
which  must  pe  always  strongly  affected  by  the  national  charac- 
ter of  countenance,  may  deserve  some  consideration  on  this 
subject.  Formerly,  the  imagination  of  women  was  supposed 
by  naturalists  to  possess  a  degree  of  influence  in  this  case  which 
was  not  justified  by  the  facts  relied  on  to  support  it.  But  I  am 
inclined  to  believe  that,  at  present,  opinions  have  been  canied 
t-o  an  extreme  on  the  other  hjind. 


1&8 

void  of  taste.  The  superior  ranks,  with  few  excep* 
tions,  will  generally  excel,  in  the  beauty  of  their  form 
;md  complexion,  not  only  because  they  enjoy,  in  a 
higher  degree,  other  advantages  which  have  been  al- 
ready pointed  out  as  contributing  to  this  end,  but 
because  they  have  it  more  in  their  power  to  form 
connexions  in  marriage  among  the  most  beautiful  of 
the  sex.  The  Persian  nobility,  who  are  of  Tartarian 
origin,  have,  in  consequence  of  their  removal  into  a 
more  favorable  climate,  and  their  having  adopted 
the  manners  of  a  civilized  people,  acquired  juster 
ideas  of  the  perfection  of  the  human  form  than  they 
possessed  in  their  primitive  seats.  Hence,  being 
led  to  seek  the  most  beautiful  women  in  marriage, 
they  have  exchanged  the  harsh  features,  and  dispro- 
portioned  figures  of  their  Tartar  ancestors,  for  a  stat- 
ure tall,  and  elegant,  and  a  form  and  expression  of 
countenance  noble  and  commanding.  The  Turkish 
families  of  fortune  have,  in  like  manner,  improved 
the  physical  character  of  their  race.  And  if  we  may 
ascribe  any  truth  to  the  portraits  drawn  by  the  Ro- 
man historians  of  the  ancestors  of  the  present  nations 
of  Europe,  we  must  acknowledge  that  the  refinement 
pf  manners,  and  the  improvements  in  the  state  of  so- 
ciety, which  have  been  introduced  in  modern  times 


1^9 

among  their  descendents,  have  contributed  also  to 
produce  a  proportional  improvement  in  their  fea- 
tures, and  their  persons.  Nothing  can  exceed  the 
pictures  of  barbarism  and  deformity  given  us  by  these 
writers,  of  the  ancient  German  and  Gothic  nations  ; 
whereas  no  nations,  perhaps,  have  ever  surpassed  the 
posterity  of  these  rude  people  in  personal  beauty. 
Such  examples  tend  to  shew  how  much  national 
varieties  may  depend  on  the  state  of  taste  re- 
sulting from  the  condition  of  society,  and  the 
progress,  or  decline  of  civilization  and  the  arts. 
They  shew,  likewise,  how  much  the  human  race 
might  be  improved  in  personal,  as  it  is  acknowledged 
it  may  be  in  mental  qualities,  by  proper  cultivation. 
Of  all  people  the  ancient  Greeks  appear  to  have 
best  understood  how  much  it  is  in  the  power  of 
manners  to  improve  the  beauty  of  the  human  per- 
son, and  to  increase  the  vigor  of  the  human  constitu- 
tion. To  these  ends  were  directed  many  of  their 
customs,  a  large  portion  of  their  legislative  wisdom, 
and  even  of  the  philosophy  of  their  schools,  and  the 
whole  system  of  their  athletic  exercises.  And  it  has 
been  conjectured,  not  improbably,  that  the  fine  liv^ 
ing  models  exhibited  in  that  country  to  statuaries 
and  painters  became  a  primary  cau^e  oi  the  high 


190 

perfection  to  which  the  arts  of  sculpture  and  paint- 
ing arrived  in  Greece.  Hitherto  among  ahnost  all 
people,  not  only  matrimonial  connexions,  but  all 
means  of  improving  the  human  form,  have  been 
abandoned,  in  a  great  measure,  to  accident,  and  the 
caprice  of  individuals.  Persons  of  elevated  and 
noble  rank  have  usually  had  it  more  in  their  power 
than  others  to  select  the  beauty  of  nations  in  mar- 
riage ;  and  thus,  while,  without  system  or  design, 
they  gratified  only  their  own  taste,  they  have  gener- 
«lly  distinguished  their  order  as  much  by  elegant 
proportions  of  person,  by  fine  features,  and  a  noble 
expression  of  countenance,  as  by  their  prerogatives  in 
society.  And  the  tales  of  romance  which  ascribe 
superlative  beauty  to  their  princesses  ;  and  the  fic- 
tions of  poets,  which  distinguish  their  kings  and 
princes  by  the  dignity  and  manly  beauty  of  their 
persons,  are  not  to  be  imputed  solely  to  venality, 
and  a  base  disposition  to  flatter  the  great,  but  have 
a  real  foundation  in  nature.*     And  the  usual  strain 


*  The  justness  of  these  observations  will  be  less  perceived 
in  the  United  States  in  which  so  great  an  equality  prevails 
among  the  citizens,  and  tlie  poorest  enjoy  comparative  ease  and 
plenty,  than  in  Europe  where  so  Avide  a  distinction  exists  be- 
tween the  highest  and  tlie  lowest  grades  of  society. — They  arf 


of  figurative  language,  which,  in  order  to  be  just-, 
must  be  borrowed  from  nature,  strongly  supports 
this  remark :  a  princely  person,  and  a  noble  thought, 
are  ordinary  figures  of  speech. 

Mental  capacity,  which  is  as  various  as  the  human 
physiognomy,  is  equally  susceptible  of  improve- 
ment, or  deterioration,  from  the  state  of  society,  and 


corroborated,  however,  by  relations  formerly  referred  to  in 
Ci.pt.  Cook's  observations  on  the  inhabitiaits  of  most  of  the 
islands  which  he  visited  in  the  South  Sea.  In  remarking  on 
tiiose  of  the  isUmd  of  Owyhee,  he  suys,  "The  same  superior- 
ity which  is  observuble  m  the  Hrees  (or  nobles)  through  all  tlie 
other  islands  is  found  also  here.  Those  whom  we  saw,  are, 
wit'aout  exception,  perfectly  well  formed  ;  whereas,  the  lower 
sort,  besides  their  general  infeiiority,  are  subject  to  all  the 
variety  of  make  taid  fitrure  that  is  seen  in  the  fiopulace  of  otliei* 
countries."  Cook's  3d  voyage,  book  3d,  chap.  6th.  These 
are  the  remarks  of  a  plain,  but  most  judicious  man,  who  had. 
tio  theory  to  support,  and  was  not  biased  by  the  opinions  of  any 
political  party. 

Such  is  the  deference  paid  to  beauty,  and  the  sentiment  of 
superiority  witli  which  it  inspires  the  beholder,  tliat,  te  this 
quality,  probtibly,  docs  the  body  of  princes  and  nobles  collec 
lively  taken,  in  any  country,  owe  great  part  of  their  influence 
over  the  populace.  Riches  and  magnificence  in  dress  and  equi- 
page produce  much  of  their  effect  in  procuring  respect,  by 
giving  an  artificial  beauty  to  tlie  person.  How  often  does  his- 
tory remark  that  young  princes  have  attached  their  subjects, 
and  generals  their  annies  by  extraordinary  beauty  of  person  ? 
A.d  young  tmd  beautiful  queens  have  ever  been  followed  and 
wrved  With  uncommon  enthusiasm^ 


192 

the  manners  and  pursuits,  which  ma)'-  form  the  cha- 
racter of  any  people.  The  body  and  mind  have 
such  reciprocal  influence  upon  each  other,  that  we 
often  see  certain  peculiar  powers  or  tendencies  of 
the  rational  faculty  intimately  connected  with  ci  r  uin 
corporeal  forms.  And  whenever  the  moral,  not  kss 
than  the  physical  causes,  under  the  influence  of  which 
any  people  exist,  have  produced  any  visible  eflfect  on 
the  form  and  expression  of  the  countenance,  they 
will  also  be  found  proportionally  to  affect  the  opera- 
tions of  the  mind.  The  Boeotian  countenance  was  as 
dull  and  phlegmatic  as  the  genius  of  tlie  people : 
and  though  Boeotia  and  Attica  were  in  the  vicinity 
of  each  other,  and  inhabited  originally  by  the  same 
race,  the  distinction  between  BcEotian  and  Attic  wit 
is  not  to  be  ascribed  solely  to  national  prejudice, 
but  had  a  real  foundation  in  the  different  characters  of 
the  two  people.  And  the  proper  source  of  a  distinc- 
tion so  striking  and  important  is  to  be  sought  rather 
in  the  state  of  society  and  manners  in  those  repub- 
lics, than  in  the  BcEotian  air  to  which  it  has  been 
sarcastically  attributed  by  ancient  writers.  By  the 
alteration  of  a  few  political  and  civil  institutions, 
Thebes  might  have  become  Athens,  and  Athens 
Thebes.     Different  epochs  in  society  unfold  differ- 


193 

ent  powers  of  the  human  mind.  Poetry,  eloquence, 
and  philosophy  seldom  arrive  at  their  highest  per- 
fection together ;  not  because  the  mind  of  man  does 
not  at  all  times  possess  the  same  endowments  from 
nature,  but  because,  in  the  progress  of  society,  new 
objects  arise,  and  new  combinations  of  ideas  are 
formed  which  call  into  exercise  dift'trent  facultie  s  of 
the  soul.  If  as  just  and  true  a  picture  of  the  per.- 
sonal  as  of  the  mental  qualities  of  men  at  these  dif- 
ferent epochs,  could  be  preserved  to  posterity  we 
should,  probably,  find  as  great  variety  in  the  one  as 
in  the  other.*  The  coarsest  features,  and  the 
harshest  expression  of  countenance,  w  ill  commonly 
be  found  in  the  rudest  states  of  society.  And  the 
mental  capacities  of  men  in  that  condition  will  ever 
be  proportionally  weaker  than  those  of  nations  who 
have  made  any  considerable  progress  in  the  arts  of 
civilization.!     They  become  feeble  through  want 


*  Of  this,  the  example,  which  I  have  bcfoi:e  produced  of  the 
ancient  Germans,  and  the  present  nations  of  Europe,  affords  a 
striking  proof. 

t  The  exaggerated  i*epresentations  which  we  sometimes  re- 
ceive of  the  superior  ingenuity  of  men  in  savage  life,  are  usu- 
ally the  result  of  inconsideration.  Savages  are  the  svil)jects  of 
eulogy  for  the  same  reason  that  we  admire  $  monkey,— that  is,  a 


194 

of  objects  to  employ  them,  and  through  defect  of 
motives  to  call  forth  their  exercise.  The  rudeness 
of  their  manners  is  calculated  to  quench  the  first 
sparks  of  taste  which  might  be  struck  out  by  the 
grandeur  of  the  objects,  and  the  wild  beauty  of  the 
scenes  which  surround  them ;  and  even  the  gross- 
ness  and  filthiness  of  the  food  of  most  savage  tribes, 
and  their  ignorance  of  the  arts  of  preparing  it  so  as  to 
render  it  most  nutritious  and  salutary  to  the  human 
constitution,  tend  to  blunt  their  genius.  And  the 
Hottentots,  the  Laplanders,  and  the  people  of  Tierra 
del  Fuego  are  the  most  stupid  of  mankind  for  this, 
among  other  reasons  which  have  formerly  been  sug- 
gested, that  they  approach,  in  these  respects,  the 
nearest  of  any  people  to  the  brute  creation.* 

certain  resemblance  of  the  actions  of  men  in  civilized  societj' 
which  was  not  expected  froan  the  rvideness  of  their  condition. 
There  are  doubtless  degrees  of  genius  among  savages  as  well 
as  among  civilized  nations  :  but  the  comparison  should  be 
made  of  savages  among  themselves,  and  not  of  the  genius  of  a 
savage,  with  that  of  a  polished,  people. 

*  The  descendents  of  the  African  race  in  America  are,  be- 
yond all  doubt,  more  ingenious,  and  capcble  of  acquiring  any 
new  art,  th:m  those  who  have  grown  up  to  maturity  in  the  sava- 
gism  of  Africa.  Wliether  they  will  ever  become  as  susccpti- 
feie  of  improvement  as  the  vvnitc  races,  whxch  has  been  stienu- 


195 

The  effects  of  savage  life  upon  the  human  counte- 
nance are,  in  many  respects,  so  peculiar  as  to  merit 
a  more  minute  illustration.  Civilization  creates 
some  affiiiity  in  the  countenances  of  all  polished  na- 
tions. In  proportion  to  their  improvement  in  the 
arts,  and  to  the  progress  of  science  among  them  there 
is  a  characteristic  and  common  expression,  which  re- 
sults from  the  similarity  of  the  operations  of  the 
mind,  and  of  the  subjects  about  which  these  opera- 
tions are  emp'oyed.  But  savages  in  every  region  are 
usually  distinguished  by  a  countenance  so  dull  and 
stupid,  when  not  excited  into  ferocity  by  hostile  and 
revengeful  passions,  as  to  induce  many  writers  to  re- 
gard them  as  an  inferior  grade  in  the  descent  from 
the  human  to  the  brute  creation.  Civilized  nations 
inhabiting  chiefly  the  temperate  latitudes,  and  sava- 
ges, except  in  America,  only  the  extremes  of  heat 
and  cold,  these  differences  in  point  of  climate,  comr 
bined  with  those  arising  out  of  their  state  of  society, 
have  produced  varieties  of  aspect  so  great  as  to  ap- 
pear  unaccountable  to  those  who  have  only  superfi- 


ously  denied  by  several  writers,  and,  in  particular,  by  Mr.  Jefir, 
ferson  in  our  own  country,  will  be  a  subject  of  consideration 
hereafter. 


196 

cially  attended  to  this  subject.  It  is  not  unworthy  of 
being  remtirked,  however,  that  the  real  sum  of  these 
varieties,  when  examined  separately,  is  not  so  great 
as  the  apparent,  when  taken  in  at  one  view.  In  the 
latter  case,  the  eye,  contemplating  at  a  single  glance, 
not  only  the  variety  presented  in  each  feature,  but 
tlie  relations  of  that  feature  to  every  other,  and  to  the 
whole  ;  and  each  new  relation  producing  some  mod- 
ification in  the  appearance  of  the  countenance,  the 
eiitire  sum  of  these  combinations  surprizes  us  by  its 
magnitude. — For  example,  even  a  small  change  in 
the  eye,  will  produce  a  striking  alteration  in  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  whole  countenance  ;  because  it  pre- 
sents to  us,  not  singly  the  difference  which  exists  in 
that  feature  alone,  but  all  the  differences  arising  from 
the  several  combinations  of  that  feature  with  every 
other  feature  in  the  face.  In  like  manner,  a  change 
in  the  complexion  presents,  not  its  own  difference 
alone,  but  a  much  greater  effect,  the  result  of  a  simi-. 
lar  combkiation.  If  both  the  eyes  and  the  complex- 
ion be  changed  in  the  same  person,  each  vaiuety 
affecting  the  whole  system  of  the  features,  the 
union  of  the  two  results  will  be  productive  of  a 
third  incomparably  greater  than  either.  If,  in  the 
same  way,  we   proceed  to  the  lips,  the  nose^  the 


197 

cheeks,  and  to  every  single  feature  in  the  visage, 
each  produces  a  multiplied  effect,  by  its  separate  re- 
lations to  the  whole,  and  the  entire  result,  like  the 
product  of  a  geometrical  series,  is  so  much  beyond 
our  first  expectation  that  it  confounds  common  ob- 
servers, in  their  attempts  to  explain  the  cause,  and 
will  sometimes  embarrass  the  most  discerning  phi- 
losophers till  they  turn  their  attention,  in  this  man- 
ner, to  divide,  and  combine  effects. 

To  treat  this  subject  fully  it  would  be  necessary, 
in  the  first  place,  to  ascertain  some  general  expression 
of  countenance  which  every  where  belongs  to  savage 
life  ;  and  then,  as  there  are  degrees  of  more  or  IcaS 
rudeness  in  the  state  of  savagism,  as  well  as  of  re- 
finement in  civilized  society,  it  would  be  necessary . 
to  distinguish  the  several  modifications  which  each 
degree  makes  in  the  general  aspect ;  and,  in  the  last 
place,  to  consider  the  varieties,  almost  innumerable, 
which  arise  from  combining  these  general  features 
with  the  effects  of  climate  and  of  other  causes  already 
mentioned.  1  shall  endeavour  merely  to  draw  the  gen- 
eral outlines  of  the  human  countenance  as  it  is  form- 
ed by  the  wildness  and  solitude  which  commonly  pre- 
vails in  the  savage  state.  And,  in  this  portrait  I 
shall  take  my  type  chiefly  from  the  American  savage. 


198 

His  eye,  in  his  ordinary  state  of  tranquillity,  is 
vacant  and  unexpressive — the  whole  composition  of 
his  countenance,  is  fixed  and  stupid,  with  little  vari- 
ety of  movement  in  the  features — over  this  unmean- 
ing ground  is  thrown  an  air  of  wildness  and  melan- 
choly.— The  face  is  somewhat  dilated  at  the  sides — 
its  muscles  are  lax — ^thc  mouth  and  lips  large — and 
the  nose,  in  the  same  proportion,  depressed. 

In  order  to  explain  this  picture,  and  to  point  out 
the  causes  which  concur  to  create  it,  let  it  be  observ- 
ed that  the  expression  of  the  eye,  and  of  the  whole 
countenance  depends,  almost  entirely  upon  the  objects 
with  which  we  are  surrounded,  the  impressions  which 
they  make  upon  the  mind,  and  the  reflections  and  emo- 
tions they  excite.  The  natural  scenery  of  a  country, 
the  occupations,  habits,  religion,  science,  govern- 
ment, manners,  of  a  people,  all  have  their  separate 
influences  in  forming  the  national  character,  and  ex- 
pression of  face.  The  justness  of  this  observation  is 
verified  by  many  facts  which  are  daily  presented  to 
us  in  society.  How  often  do  we  preccive  a  distinctive 
character  of  countenance  impressed  upon  certain  re- 
ligious sects  by  the  peculiar  habits  and  tenets  of  their 
profession?  Those  who  practice  certain  mechan- 
ical  occupations,  and  the  professors  even  of  the  more 


199 

liberal  arts,  are  often  distinguishable  by  some  pecu. 
liarities  of  aspect,  as  well  as  of  manners.  Every 
thought  that  passes  through  the  mind  traces  its  cha- 
racter, in  stronger,  or  weaker  lines  upon  the  visage; 
and  total  vacuity  of  thought  leaves  in  it  only  the  ex- 
pression of  stupidity.  The  infinite  variety  of  ideas 
and  emotions  created  in  civilized  society,  contribute 
to  give  great  variety  to  the  lines  of  the  face  ;  at  the 
same  time,  each  class  of  citizens  is  liable  to  be 
marked  by  some  distinctive  expression  resulting 
from  their  habits  and  occupations ;  while  each  indi- 
vidual will  be  characterized  by  some  singular,  and 
personal  traits  according  to  his  genius,  educatioa 
and  pursuits.  Between  savage  and  civilized  socie- 
ty, therefore,  there  will  be  all  the  difference  which 
can  arise  from  thinking,  and  want  of  thought.  And 
savages  ^vill  have  all  that  uniformity  among  them- 
selves, in  the  same  climate,  and  country,  which  nat- 
urally arises  from  vacancy  of  mind,  and  the  want, 
especially  of  all  the  delicate  emotions,  which  are  so 
varied  in  society.  A  vacant  eye,  and  unmeaning 
countenance,  approaching,  in  some  regions,  espe- 
cially under  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  almost 
to  a  look  of  idiotism,  seem  to  reduce  the  savage,  in 
Ijis  aspect,  many  degrees  nearer  to  the  brutes,  than 


'200 

the  civilized  man.  The  solitude  in  which  he  Hves 
renders  him  dull,  and  gives  him  an  appearance  of 
melancholy.  He  seldom  speaks,  or  laughs.  Soci- 
ety rarely  enlivens  his  features.  When  not  engaged 
in  hunting  or  in  war,  having  no  object  to  rouse  him, 
he  will  often  sit  for  hours  in  one  posture,  with  his 
eyes  fixed  to  a  single  point,  and  his  senses  lost  in 
sombre,  and  unmeaning  reverie.  These  solitary 
feelings,  and  melancholy  emotions,  serve  to  cast  over 
his  visage,  which  other  causes  render  fixed,  and  un- 
expressive,  a  sad  and  lugubrious  air.  The  ^\ild 
scenes  of  nature  around  him  impress  some  resem- 
blance of  themselves  on  his  features  ; — and  the  pas- 
sions of  war  and  rage,  which  are  almost  the  only  ones 
that  occupy  the  mind  of  a  savage,  frequently  mingle 
with  the  whole  an  aspect  of  brutal  ferocity.* 


*  The  inhabitants  of  most  of  the  small  islands  in  the  great 
Southern  and  Pacific  oceans  form  an  exception  to  this  general 
character  of  the  savage  countenance.  Prevented,  by  their  iso- 
lated state,  from  engaging  in  perpetual  hostilities  with  neighbor- 
ing and  warlike  tribes,  like  the  continental  savages,  and  several 
of  those  of  the  larger  isiands,they  are  distinguished  by  an  air  of 
mildness  and  complacency,  which  is  much  increased  in  conse- 
quence of  their  easy  and  social  manner  of  living.  And  this  is 
greatly  promoted  by  the  mildness  of  tlieir  climate,  and  the 
abund.ince  of  simple  and  nutritious  food  spontaneously  suppli- 
ttd  bv  thti)'  soil. 


201 

Paucity  of  ideas,  solitude,  and  melancholy  contri- 
bute likewise,  in  no  small  degree,  to  form  the  re- 
maining features  of  a  savage  countenance, — a  mouth 
large,  and  somewhat  protruded,  a  dilatation  of  the 
face,  and  a  general  laxness  and  swell  of  its  muscles. 

The  active  exercise  of  thought,  and  the  inter- 
course of  refined  society,  induce  a  tension,  and  ac- 
tion in  the  muscles  of  the  face  which  serve  to  give 
it  a  greater  elevation  towards  the  middle.  But  the 
vacant  mind  of  the  savage  leaving  these  muscles  lax 
and  unexerted,  they  swell  into  larger  dimensions, 
dilating  themselves  more  towards  the  sides,  tlian  ris- 
ing towards  the  center  of  the  face.  Hence,  perhaps, 
that  plumpness  of  feature,  and  roundness  of  visage, 
or  departure  from  the  oval  figure,  which  we  so  often 
find  in  young  persons,  and  especially  young  women, 
who  have  been  bred  in  the  retirement  of  the  country.* 

Grief  peculiarly  affects  the  lips  by  distending 
them,  and  giving  them  a  swoln  appearance.  Soli- 
tude, gloom  or  melancholy,  in  proportion  to  the  de- 


*  And  may  not  the  superior  advances  made  in  society,  and 
the  arts,  in  Europe,  with  the  superior  vigor  and  energy  of  the 
human  character  in  that  quarter  of  the  world,  be  one  reason  of 
the  greater  elevation  of  the  European  above  that  of  the  Asiatic 
countenance  ? 

A   A 


202 

grec  in  which  they  prevail  are  found  to  be  attended 
u iih  a  like  efFtct.  Where  they  naturally  arise  out  of 
the  state  of  society,  therefore,  and  when  they  operate 
from  infancy,  and  are  seldom  counteracted  by  the 
more  gay  and  vi^'id  emotions  created  in  polished 
life,  the  effects  will,  at  length,  become  considerable. 
The  lips  of  a  savage,  will,  from  these  causes,  gene- 
rally be  large,  and  in  a  less  or  greater  degree,  thick 
and  protruded. 

The  nose  aifects,  and  is  affected  by  other  features 
of  the  face.  The  whole  system  of  the  features  is 
so  connected,  that,  if  one  be  remarkably  enlarged, 
it  is  commonly  accompanied  with  a  proportional 
diminution  of  some  other,  A  prominent  nose  is 
generally  joined  with  a  thin  visage.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  broad  face,  thick  lips,  and  elevated  cheek 
bones,  are  no"  less  commonly  accompanied  with  a 
certain  depression  of  the  feature  of  the  nose.  It 
seems  as  if  the  extension  of  the  nerves  in  one  direc- 
tion restrained  their  growth  in  another.*      Savages, 


*  By  a  small  experimert  on  ourselves,  we  may  render  this 
effect  obvious.  By  a  protrusion  of  the  lips,  or  by  cn\.wirg 
down  the  m-outh  at  the  corners,  we  shi.ll  perceive  u  stricture 
on  the  nose,  thixt,  in  an  age  when  all  the  features  are  peculiarly 
soft  and  pliant.  wcuUl  seViSibly  tci  d  to  depress  it.  And,  continu- 
ed throu^li  tue  whole  of  life.  weulU  iix  it  bnmovubly  in  tliyt  habit. 


203 

therefore,  have  this  feature  commonly  more  flat,  and 
sunk  than  civilized  nations.  This,  however,  is  not 
to  be  regarded  as  the  entire  €ause  of  that  extreme 
flatness  which  prevails  on  part  of  the  coast  of  Africa, 
and  in  Lapland.  Climate,  probal^ly,  enters  there 
for  part  of  the  effect ;  and  is  aided  by  an  absurd 
sense  of  beauty  which  prompis  the  natives  to  de- 
press it  by  art.* 

The  preceeding  observations  tend  to  account  for 
some  of  the  most  characteristic  and  distinguishing 
features  which  prevail  in  savage  life.  To  these  I 
might  have  added  another  general  reason  of  the  pecu- 
liar wildness  and  rudeness  which  marks  them  in  that 
state  of  society.  The  feelings  of  savages,  when  they 
deviate  from  tht  ir  usual  apathy  at  home,  are  mostly 
of  the  uneasy  kind ;  and  to  them  they  give  an  un- 
constrained expression.  Hence  will  naturally  re- 
sult a  habit  of  the  face  extremely  uncouth ;  as  we 
see  a  similar  negligence  among  the  vulgar  contribute 

*  Whether  the  flatness  of  the  African  nose  be  the  effect  of 
climate,  or  of  the  manner  of  living-,  certain  it  is,  that  ;miong  the 
posterity  of  tlie  Africans  in  America,  wh,o  are  placed  in  easy 
ancl  comfortable  circumstances,  we  frequently  meet  with  this 
feature  not  only  raised  like  that  of  the  Anglo-American,  bu 
beautifully  turned. 


204 

to  heighten  that  disgusting  coarseness  which  so  many 
other  causes  concur  to  create. 

I  have  now  briefly  examined  the  effects  of  cHmate, 
of  various  modes  of  living,  and  states  of  society 
upon  the  complexion,  and  figure  of  the  human  spe- 
cies.— And  in  this  examination  we  have  seen  that 
the  pliant  nature  of  man  is  susceptible  of  m.any 
changes  from  the  action  of  the  minutest  causes  :  and 
the  action  of  these  causes  habitually  repeated  through 
a  sufficient  period  of  time,  can  create,  at  length,  the 
most  conspicuous  distinctions  among  people  origin- 
ally the  same.  The  effect  proceeds,  increasing  from 
one  generation  to  another,  till  it  arrives  at  that  point 
where  the  constitution  can  yield  no  farther  to  the 
power  of  the  operating  cause.  Here  it  assumes  a 
permanent  form,  which  constitutes  the  character  of 
the  climate,  or  the  nation. 

It  is  frequently  asked  on  this  subject,  Vvhy,  unless 
there  be  an  original  difference  in  the  species  of  men, 
are  not  the  natives  of  all  climates  born,  at  least,  with 
the  same  figure  and  complexion?  To  such  enqui- 
ries it  is  sufficient  to  answer,  that  it  is  for  the  same 
reason,  whatever  that  may  be,  that  other  resemblan- 
ces of  parents  are  communicated  to  children.  Ex- 
perience demonstrates  that  figure,  stature,  complex- 


205 

ion,  features,  diseases,  and  even  powers  of  the  mind 
may  become  hereditary.  To  those  who  find  no  dif- 
ficulty in  acknowledging  that  these  properties  may  be 
communicated  to  offspring  according  to  the  estab- 
lished laws  of  nature,  the  transmission  of  the  climat- 
ical  or  national  difierences  among  men,  of  which  we 
have  treated,  can  contain  nothing  which  ought  to 
appear  supernatural,  or  incredible. — If  it  be  enquir- 
ed, why,  then,  a  sun  burnt  face,  or  a  wounded 
limb,  is  not,  by  the  same  laws,  if  they  exist,  trans- 
mitted to  posterity  ?  we  may  justly  reply,  that  these 
are  only  partial  accidents  which  produce  no  change 
on  the  interior  structure  and  temperament  of  the  con- 
stitution. It  is  the  constitution  which  is  conveyed 
by  birth.  And  when  any  change  becomes  incorpo- 
rated, into  the  system,  so  as,  in  any  considerable 
degree,  to  affect  its  organization,  or  the  state  of  its 
secretions,  it  then  becomes  communicable  to  off- 
spring along  with  all  other  constitutional  properties? 

I  proceed,  now,  to  consider  the  exceptions  exist- 
ing in  different  regions  of  the  globe  which  seem  to 
stand  in  opposition  to  the  principles  maintained  in 
this  essay. 

I  begin  with  recalling  an  observation  which  I  have 
formerly  made,  that  these  exceptions  are  neither  so 


206 

aunierotis,  nor  so  important  as  they  have  been  re. 
presented  to  be,  by  inaccurate  travellers,  and  by 
credulous  philosophers.  Even  Buffon  is  not  alto- 
gether  free  from  the  charge  of  credulity,  who  only 
doubts  concerning  the  relations  of  Struys,  and  other 
prodigy-mongers,  who  have  filled  the  histories  of 
their  voyages  with  marvelous  tales,  the  fruit  of  de* 
liberate  falsehood,  or  of  ignorant  surprize.  Noth- 
ing can  appear  more  ridiculous  and  contemptible 
than  philosophers,  like  maids  and  nurses,  retailing, 
with  solemn  faces,  the  stories  of  monsters,  and  en- 
deavouring to  find  some  cause  of  their  existence  in 
the  mysterious  operations  of  nature.* 

*  Buffon  who  describes  the  inhabitants  of  the  Ladrone 
islands  as  being,  in  general,  of  a  stature  superior  to  the  men  of 
other  countries,  thinks  it  not  improbalile  that  giants  may  have 
been  seen  there.  And  the  sa,me  author  admits  the  story  of  the 
existence  of  a  people  in  New  Holland  without  teeth. 

Lord  Monbodo,  in  his  treatise  of  the  origin  of  languages,  See. 
whimsically  enough,  supposes  that  mankuid  originally  had 
tails;  and  that  they  lost  this  brutal  excrescence  only  in  conse. 
quencc  of  the  progress  of  civilization.  And  he  believes  that 
there  are  some  nations  who  yet  retain  this  mark  of  affinity  with 
tlie  inferior  tribes  of  animals.  Sir  Waiter  Raleigh  speaks  of 
a  people  in  Guiana  without  necks,  whose  eyes,  or  rather,  whose 
eye,  for  it  is  said  that  they  have  only  one,  is  in  tlie  upper  part  of 
the  breast.  Other  writers  have  described  certain  hordes  of 
Tartars  in  a  similar  stile.     The  necks  of  these  Tartars  are. 


207 

In  America,  perhaps,  we  receive  such  tales  with 
more  incredulity  and  contempt  than  the  people  of 
most  other  nations  ;  because  we  see,  in  such  a  strong 
light,  the  falsehood  of  similar  wonders,  said  to  exist 
in  this  continent,  which,  a  few  years  ago,  were  re- 
ported, and  believed,  and  made  the  subjects  of  many 
philosophical  disqliisitions,  in  Europe.  We  hear 
every  day  the  absurd  remarks  and  false  reasonsing-s 
of  foreigners  on  almost  every  object  which  comes 
under  their  observation  in  this  new  region.  They 
judge  of  things,  of  men,  and  of  manners  under  the  in* 
fiuence  of  habits  and  ideas,  framed  in  a  different  cli«' 
mate,  and  a  different  state  of  society.  They  pro- 
Hounce  concerning  all  things  according  to  the  ac» 
companiments  which  similar  facts  would  have  in 
their  own  country :  without  examining,  like  true 
philosophers,  the  causes  of  the  differences  created  ia 
the  actions  of  men,  and  manners  of  nations,  by  diver- 
sity of  situation.  They  infer  general  and  erroneous 
conclusions  from  single  and  mistaken  facts,  viewed 
through  that  prejudice  which  previous  habits  always 
form  in  common  minds.* — Note^  see  next  page. 


naturally  extremely  short.     And  the  spirit  of  travelling  prod- 
j,5y  has  sometimes  uiidertaken  to  annihilate  tliem. 


208 

Since  America  has  become  better  known,  we  find 
no  canibals  in  Florida, — no  men  in  Guiana  who  have 
their  heads  sunk  into  their  breasts, — no  martial  Am- 
azons.    The  giants  of  Patagonia  have  disappcar- 


*  It  reqviires  a  more  minute  and  accurate  attention,  and  a 
greater  portion  of  reflection,  and  the  true  spirit  of  pliilosophy 
than  is  possessed,  or  exercised  by  ordinary  travellers  to  judge 
with  just  discrimination  of  men  and  things  in  foreign  countries. 
Countries  are  described  from  a  single  spot,  manners  from  a 
single  action,  and  men  from  tlie  first  man  that  is  seen  on  a  for- 
eign shore,  and  him,  perhaps,  only  half  seen  and  at  a  distance. 
Hence  America  has  been  represented  by  different  travellers  as 
the  most  fertile  or  the  most  barren  region  on  the  globe.  Navi- 
gators to  Africa  who  have  visited  only  the  shores  of  the  Gambia 
or  the  Senegal  speak  of  the  spreading  forests,  and  the  luxuri- 
ant herbage  of  that  arid  continent.  Surprize  occasioned  by  an 
uncommon  complexion,  or  composition  of  features,  or  a  stat- 
ure a  little  above  or  below  the  ordinary  standard,  has  distorted, 
and  increased  or  diminished  tlie  size  of  the  people  of  different 
nations  beyond  all  the  proportions  of  natui-e.  Such  judgments 
are  similar  to  those  which  a  Chinese  sailor  who  had  accident- 
ally been  thrown  on  Cape  May,  or  Cape  Hatteras,  would  form 
of  the  United  States;  or  would  form  of  Great-Britain  or  of 
France  who  had  seen  only  the  suburbs  of  Dover,  or  of  Calais. 
Besides  the  limited  sphere  of  observation  of  siuch  a  traveller,  he 
would  naturally  see  every  thing  with  astonishment,  or  with  dis- 
gust, which  would  exaggerate  or  distort  his  representation. 
He  would  see  each  action,  that  might  occur  to  his  observation, 
bv  itself,  v.'itliout  knowing  its  connexions  ;  or  he  would  give  it 
in  his  imagination  tiiose  connexions  which  it  would  have  in  his 
own  country.  A  similar  error  led  Capt.  Cook,  in  his  first  voy- 
age to  form  an  unfavorable  opinion  of  tlie  modesty  and  chas- 


209 

ed.  And  the  same  fate  should  liave  attended  those  of 
the  Ladrone  islands  to  whom  BufFon,  after  Gemelli 
Carreri  has  been  pleased  to  give  an  imaginary  exis- 
tence.    Tavernier'b  tales  of  the  smooth  and  hairless 


tity  of  the  women  of  Otaheite,  which  his  after  experience 
taught  him  to  ooirect.  Many  such  fiilse  judgments  are  to  be 
found  in  almost  every  writer  of  voyt;ges  or  travels.  The  Ame- 
rican savages  have  often  been  represented  by  European  writers 
as  fiigid  towards  the  sex  because  they  seldom  avi.il  themselves 
of  the  opportunities  almost  constantly  offered  by  their  state  of 
society,  to  violate  the  chastity  of  their  females.  And,  on  the 
other  hand,  they  ai'e  sometimes  represented  as  licentious  be- 
cause they  are  seen  to  lie  pi'omiscuously  in  the  same  wigwam, 
or  round  the  same  fire. — Both  jucfgments  are  Llse  ;  and  result 
from  prepossessions  formed  in  society.  Simplicity  or  ruther 
rudeness  of  manners,  and  the  hardships  of  their  state,  more 
than  constitution,  or  than  climate,  create  that  appearance  of 
indifference,  on  the  one  hand,  which  is  esteemed  an  evidence 
of  frigidity  ;  and  give  occasion,  on  the  other,  to  that  promiscu- 
ous intercourse  wliich  is  supposed  to  be  united  with  criminal 
indulgence.  I^uxury,  restraints,  arid  the  manifold  arts  em- 
ployed for  the  purpose,  in  polished  society,  contribute  to  in- 
flame desire,  which  is  allayed  by  the  coarse  manners,  and  the 
hard  fare  of  savage  life,  wherein  no  studied  excitements  are 
employed  to  awaken  the  passions.  And  in  the  midst  of  this 
apparently  unrestrained  freedom,  infinitely  fewer  violations  of 
female  honor  and  safety  take  place,  than  are  found  under  the 
restraints  and  excitements  of  our  civilized  manners.  On  a 
like  foundation  cowardice  has  been  imputed  to  the  aboriginal 
natives  of  America,  because  they  prosecute  their  wars  by  strat- 
agem,— insensibility  because  they  suffer  torture  with  a  patience 
not  to  be  parallelled  in  any  other  country, — and  thievishness, 

B  B 


210 


bodies  of  the  Mogul  women  may  be  ranked  with 
those  which  have  so  long,  and  so  falsely  attributed 
this  peculiarity  to  the  natives  of  America.  The 
same  judgment  may   we  form   of  those  histories 


because  a  savage,  having  hardly  any  netion  of  property,  ex- 
cept in  those  things  which  he  has  in  present  occupatioi:,  lakes, 
without  scruple,  wliathe  wants,  and  sees  you  do  not  need. 

We  see,  in  innumerable  instances,  in  the  narrations  of  tra- 
vellers, the  act  of  one  man,  the  figure,  or  stature  of  the  first 
vagrant  seen  upon  a  distant  shore,  furnish  out  the  character  of 
a  Avhole  nation. 

The  false  and  distorted  representations  of  Europei^ns  who 
visit  the  United  States  are  sufficient  to  make  us  distrust  the 
narrations  of  all  foreigners  \rho  pretend  to  depict  the  state  and 
manners  of  new  and  distant  countries.  There  is  hardly  a  fact 
which  is  not  perverted  by  such  men  as-  Weld  and  Ashe,  and  the 
inferences  which  they  draw  from  what  tliey  observe  are  gene- 
rally false.  They  travel  without  a  spark  of  that  philosophic 
spirit  which  alone  entitles  a  man  to  remark  on  foreign,  and 
especially  on  new  countries.  Ashe's  distress  on  tl^.e  Alleghany 
mountains  on  account  of  wild  beasts  which  never  disturb  an 
•American:  his  terrors j  his  disgusts,  and  his  wondeiful  de- 
scriptions of  thunder-storms,  fire-flies,  and  snakes  ai'e  truly 
laughable  ;  and  almost  his  whole  history  equally  contemptible 
and  false.  The  same  may  be  said  of  a  great  part  of  the  travels 
through  this  country  which  have  been  published.  Volney  who 
claims  to  stand  in  the  first  ranks  of  philosophy,  writes  wiUi  ht- 
tle  more  accuracy  or  discrimination  than  these  ignorant  Eng- 
lishmen. One  of  the  customs,  he  says,  of  tlie  citizens  of  Phi- 
ladelphia is  universally  to  indulge  themselves  in  bed  for  two 
hours  in  the  afternoon,  during  which  time  the  streets  are  abso- 
lutely deserted.      He  may  have  been  acquainted  with  one  ov 


211 

which  pretend  to  describe  nations  without  natural 
affection, — without  any  sentiments  of  religion, — 
and  without  moral  principle.  In  a  word,  the  greater 
part  of  those  extraordinary  deviations  from  the  com- 
mon laws  of  climate,  and  of  society  which  formerly 
obtained  credit  in  Europe,  arc  found,  by  more  accu- 

two  families  in  which  the  ladies  gave  themselves  this  indul- 
gence. The  rest  of  the  story  he  must  have  dreamed.  Because 
he  has  seen  in  some  houses  in  Virginia  hot  buttered  rolls  serv- 
ed up  at  breakfast,  he  says  all  the  Americans  eat  hot  paste  per- 
fectly soaked  in  grease.  These  are  but  small  samples  out  of 
many  in  which  he,  and  a  multitude  of  others,  display  their  in- 
veterate prejudice,  their  inexcusable  carelessness,  or  delibe- 
rate falsehood. 

By  such  writers,  nations  have  been  judged  to  be  without  any 
sentiment  of  religion,  because  they  have  not  seen  temples,  and 
ceremonies.  Others  have  been  pronounced  to  be  without  natu- 
ral affection,  because  one  man  has  been  seen  to  do  an  act  of 
seeming  barbarity — But  the  nation  which  appears  to  have  de- 
parted farthest  from  tae  ordinary  laws  of  human  nature,  is  that 
of  the  Giagas,  a  people  of  Africa,  mentioned  by  Loi-d  Kaims 
in  his  laudable  attempts  to  disprove  the  truth  of  the  Mosaic 
history.  This  people,  he  thinks,  must  be  of  a  distinct  race 
from  the  rest  of  mankind,  because,  unlike  all  otliers,  they  kLI 
their  own  children  as  soon  as  they  are  bom,  and  supply  their 
places  by  youth  stolen  from  the  neighbouring  tribes.  One 
would  think  that  even  his  lordship's  zeal  for  a  good  CaU«c  might 
have  suffered  him  to  refleet,  that  they  could  not  have  continu- 
ed a  separate  race  longer  than  till  tlie  stolen  children  hui  grovm 

up  to  manhood An  excellent  specimen  of  the   easy  fJth  of 

infidelity  !.^-See  Ld.  Kaims'  prelim,  disc,  to  sketchi^s  of  the 
iiiat.  of  HI  an. 


212 

rate  observation,  to  have  no  existence.  If  a  few 
marvelous  narrations  are  still  retailed  by  credulous 
writers,  a  short  time  will  explode  them  all,  or  shew 
that  the  facts  have  been  misunderstood ;  and,  that 
when  placed  in  a  proper  light,  they  are  susceptible 
of  an  easy  explanation,  on  the  knov.  n,  and  common 
principles  of  nature. 

Leaving  such  pretended  facts,  and  the  inferences 
to  which  they  have  given  birth,  to  deserved  con- 
tempt, I  shall  now  state  a  few  well  ascertained  phe- 
nomena which  appear  to  imply  a  deviation  from  the 
laws  of  climate  as  they  have  been  laid  down  in  this 
essay  ;  and,  by  the  solution  of  them,  endeavour  to 
confirm  those  laws. 

In  tracing  the  same  parallels  round  the  globe  we 
do  not  discern  in  every  region  placed  at  equal  dis- 
tances from  the  sun  the  same  features  and  complex- 
ion. In  the  various  kingdoms,  and  districts  of  In- 
dia, and  along  the  northern  coasts  of  Africa,  nations 
are  mingled  together  who  are  distinguished  from 
one  another  by  very  conspicuous  differences.  The 
torrid  zone  of  Asia  is  not  marked  by  such  a  deep 
colour,  nor  by  such  a  woolly  substance  instead  of 
hair,  as  that  of  Africa.  And  the  colour  of  tropical 
America  is,  in  general,  lighter  than  that  of  Asia. 


213 

The  tropical  zone  of  i\fnca  is  not  uniform.  The 
complexion  of  the  western  coast  is  of  a  deeper  black 
than  that  of  the  eastern.  It  is  deeper  on  the  north- 
ern side  of  the  equator,  nearly  to  the  tropic,  than  in 
the  correspondent  parallels  on  the  south.  The 
Abyssinians,  in  the  lightness  of  their  complexion, 
and  the  length  of  their  hair,  form  an  exception  from 
all  the  other  inhabitants  of  that  zone.  And  advanc- 
ing beyond  the  tropic  towards  the  South,  we  find 
the  Hottentots  who  seem  to  be  a  race  by  themselves ; 
less  black  than  the  inhabitants  of  the  torrid  zone ; 
but  in  their  manners,  the  most  beastly,  and  in  their 
persons  and  the  fticiilties  of  their  minds,  approach- 
ing the  nearest  to  the  brute  creation  of  any  of  the  hu- 
man species. 

For  the  explication  of  these  varieties  it  is  necessary 
to  observe  that  the  same  parallel  of  latitude  does  not 
uniformly  indicate  the  same  degree  of  heat,  or  cold.  , 
Vicinity  to  the  sea,  the  course  of  winds,  the  altitude 
of  lands,  and  even  the  nature  of  the  soil,  create  great 
variety  in  the  temperature  of  regions  posited  at  the 
same  distance  from  the  equator.  The  state  of  soci- 
ety in  which  any  people  take  possession  of  a  new 
country,  has  a  powerful  eifect  either  in  subjecting; 
them  to  considerable  changes  in  their  aspect,  from 


the  opera  lion  of  the  various  causes  which  affect  the 
human  system,  or  in  enabling  them  to  preserve  their 
original  features  in  opposition  to  their  influences. 

Every  migration,  however,  will  produce  some 
change,  either  more  or  less  conspicuous,  in  tlieir  ap- 
pearance. And  the  combined  effects  of  many  mi- 
grations, such  as  have  been  made  by  the  greater  part 
of  the  tribes  of  the  human  race,  must  have  contribut- 
ed greatly  to  diversify  the  aspect  of  mankind  in  dif- 
ferent countries.  A  nation,  for  example,  which  mi- 
grates to  a  different  climate,  will,  in  time,  be  impres- 
sed with  the  characteristics  of  its  new  state.  If  this 
Ration  should,  in  some  centuries  afterwards,  return 
to  its  original  seats,  it  would  not  perfectly  recover  its 
primitive  features,  and  complexion ;  but  would  re- 
ceive  the  impressions  of  the  first  climate  on  the 
ground  of  those  formed  in  the  second.  In  a  new  re. 
moval,  the  combined  effect  of  the  two  climates 
would  become  the  ground  on  which  would  be  im- 
pressed the  characters  of  the  third.  We  perceive 
here  a  new  cause  of  endless  variety  in  the  human 
countenance. 

These  principles  will  serve  to  explain  the  causes 
of  many  of  the  differences  which  exist  among  the 
inhabitants  of  those  countries  which  have  been  the 


215 

subjects  of  most  frequent  conquests,  or  have  most 
frequently  received  foreign  emigrants  into  their  terri- 
tories ;  especially,  if  religion,  manners,  policy,  or 
other  causes,  prevent  tlie  old  inhabitants  from  ming- 
ling freely,  and  blending  with  the  new.  India,  and 
the  northern  regions  of  Africa  have  been  oftener  over- 
run by  foreign  nations  than  any  other  countries  oa 
the  globe.  And  many  nations  who  have  not  at- 
tempted conquest,  have  established  colonies  among- 
them  for  the  purposes  of  commerce,  invited  by  the 
fertility  of  the  soil,  or  the  riches  and  variety  of  its 
productions.  We  accordingly  sec  in  these  climates 
a  greater  mixture  of  people  than  is  any  where  else  to 
be  found.  These  foreign  intruders  have,  all  been, 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  civilized.  They  virerc 
able,  therefore,  to  preserve  with  some  success,  in 
their  new  situations,  the  resemblance  of  their  origi- 
nal and  distinctive  properties.  The  Turks,  the 
Arabs,  and  the  Moors,  in  the  North  of  Africa, — ■ 
the  Copts,  the  Mamelukes,  the  Turks,  and  the 
Greeks,  in  Egypt,  will  always  be  distinguishable 
from  one  another  in  their  figure,  and  complexion,  as 
long  as  their  peculiar  habits,  manners,  and  religious,, 
or  national  prejudices  are  retained,  and  surround 
thein  with  those  fences  which  prevent  them  from 


216 

amalgamating,  and  assuming  one  national  character. 
And  India,  and  the  neighboring  islands  in  the  Indian 
Ocean,  will  ever  be  filled  wi-th  a  various  race  of  peo- 
ple, while  their  delicious  climate,  and  its  rich  pro- 
ductions continue  to  invite  both  conquest  and  com- 
merce. The  climate  will,  doubtless,  create  a  certain 
change  in  the  aspect  of  all  foreign  nations  who  re- 
move thither  ;  but  the  difference  in  the  degree  of  this 
change  according  to  their  different  habits,  and  im- 
provements in  the  social  arts  ;  and  the  various  com- 
binations of  the  effects  of  the  climate  with  the  origi- 
nal characters  of  the  respective  people,  will  always  . 
maintain  among  them  important  and  conspicuous 
distinctions. 

Along  the  coasts  of  the  great  peninsula  of  the 
hither  India  are  scattered  the  remains  of  the  colonies 
of  many  nations  who  in  different  ages  have  held 
commercial  intercourse  "with  those  fertile  regions. 
There  ai'e  found  the  ruins  of  ancient  and  magnificent 
structures,  which  demonstrate  that  this  rich,  popu- 
lous but  unwarlike  country,  has,  in  former  periods, 
suffered  the  most  cruel  and  desolating  ravages  by  . 
hostile  invaders,  the  remnants  of  whose  armies  have, 
probably,  long  since  been  blended  with  the  primitive 
inhabitants,  or  formed  separate  tribes  in  the  midst  of 


217 

of  them ;  all  which  have  contributed  to  multiply 
the  differences  of  aspect  presented  to  us  among  that 
various  j^eople.  The  northern  portion  of  the  hither 
India,  and  the  farther  India  down  to  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  peninsula  of  Malacca,  have  often 
been  the  theatre  of  Tartar  conquests.  And  in  the 
mass  of  their  population,  and  particularly  in  the  phy- 
siognomy of  the  Malays^  we  evidently  discern  the 
basis  of  the  Tartar  countenance  now  overlaid 
with  the  softer  feature  of  the  lower  x\sia :  as  the 
countenance  of  the  North  American  aboriginals  is  no 
less  evidently  the  Tartar  feature  rendered  more 
coarse  and  harsh  by  passing  through  colder  climates, 
and  by  a  more  savage  state  of  society.* 

*  I  had  not  long  since  a  striking  proof  of  the  visible  resem'- 
blance  between  the  figure,  countenance,  and  whole  appearm.ce 
of  the  Malay,  and  the  American  mdian.  Mr.  Van  Polanen 
late  minister  from  the  late  republic  of  Holland  to  the  United 
States,  and  afterwards  holding  a  high  office  at  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  and  in  the  island  of  Java,  on  his  i-eturn  from  tlie 
East,  fixed  his  residence  iii  Princeton.  He  brought  with  him. 
two  Malay  servants.  As  they  were  one  day  standing  in  his 
door,  there  happened  to  pass  by  two  or  three  Indians  belonging 
to  a  small  tribe  which  still  holds  some  lands  within  the  state  of 
New-Jersey.  When  they  approached  the  door  the  attention  of 
each  party  was  strongly  arrested  by  the  appearance  of  the 
other.     They  contemplated  one  another  with  evident  marks  of 


218 

Another  variety  which  seems  to  form  an  excep- 
tion from  the  principles  hitherto  laid  down,  but 
which,  when  fairly  examined,  will  be  found  to  con- 
firm them,  is  seen  in  the  torrid  zone  of  Asia  which 
is  not  marked  by  so  deep  a  colour  as  that  of  Africa ; 
and  the  inhabitants  have  universally  long,  straight 
hair  instead  of  wool.  The  African  zone  is,  almost 
throughout  its  whole  extent,  a  field  of  burning  sand, 
which  augments  the  heat  of  the  sun  to  a  degree  that 
can  hardly  be  conceived  of  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
temperate  latitudes.  The  Asiatic  zone,  on  the  other 
hand,  consists  chiefly  of  water,  which,  absorbing  the 
rays  of  the  sun,  and  filling  the  atmosphere  with  a 
refrigerating  vapour,  renders  the  winds  that  fan  its 
numerous  islands,  and  narrow  peninsulas  compara-^ 
lively  temperate.  The  principal  masses  of  its  lands 
lie  nearer  to  the  northern  tropic,  than  to  the  equa- 
tor.  In  the  summer  season  the  chief  winds  that  blow 


CTirprize.  And,  by  their  signs  and  gestures,  discovered  their 
mutual  astonishment  at  seeing  such  a  likeiiess  to  themselves. 
•—Every  person,  indeed,  who  sees  these  Malays,  and  is  ac- 
qu^nted  with  the  countenance  of  our  native  Indians,  is  forcibly 
struck  with  the  resemblance.— The  chief  difference  between 
them  is,  that  the  features  of  the  Malays  are  more  soft,  the 
cheek  bone  not  quite  so  much  raised,  and  the  outline  of  the 
fficc  somewhat  more  circular. 


219 


reach  them  after  having  deposited  their  greatest 
heats  in  those  vast  oceans  which  wash  their  shores  on 
every  side.  In  the  winter,  on  the  other  hand,  they 
return  in  their  annual  course,  from  continents  which 


tlie  sun  has  long  deserted.* 


The  next  apparent  exception  from  our  principles 
we  discover  in  Africa  itself.     This  continent,  like 


*  The  monsoons  are  found  to  blow  orer  the  whole  Asiatic 
zone,  taking  their  course  in  the  two  periods  of  the  year  accord- 
ing to  the  relative  position  to  the  sun  of  tlie  great  bodies  of  lan"4 
which  influence  their  direction. 

In  the  first  edition  of  this  essay,  misled  by  the  information  of 
some  navigators  Avho  had  visited  many  of  the  larger  islands  in 
the  Indian  seas,  I  supposed  there  was  a  race  of  negroes  inhab-- 
iting  the  interior  of  the  island  of  Borneo,  as  well  as  of  some 
others  of  those  vast  insular  countries,  bearing  a  considerable 
resemblance  to  the  negroes  of  Africa.  More  accurate  infoi'i 
mation  has  convinced  me  that  the  natives,  although  black,  have 
more  of  the  Indian  than  the  African  feature,  and  like  the  fomiey 
also,  their  hair  is  lank  and  long.  The  middle  regions  of  those 
great  islands,  are  very  elevated  and  mountainous  ;  and  are, 
consequently,  more  temperate  than  the  coasts,  which  are  now 
almost  universally  inhabited  by  descendents  of  the  Malay  tribes, 
who,  in  some  former  period,  hiwe  conquered  the  level  country, 
and  driven  the  aboriginals,  who  appear  to  be  of  Indian  descent, 
into  the  hills,  where  they  have  become  savage.. — That  they 
were  not  originally  savage  I  conclude  from  those  rennins  of 
Indian  magnificence,  and  mouuments  of  the  Hindoo  supersti- 
tion, which  are  still  discernible  in  several  of  the  isUmds,  in  those 
parts,  from  which  the  aboriginals,  now  tlie  savage  inhabitants 
#f  tlie  movmtainous  tracts,  have  been  expelled.- 


220 

Europe  and  Asia,  contains  many  varieties  created  by 
the  same  causes,  vicinity  to  the  sun,  elevation  of  the 
land,  the  nature  of  the  soil,  the  temperature  of 
winds,  the  manners  of  the  people  and  the  mixture  of 
nations  who,  at  different  periods  and  in  a  state  more 
or  less  civilized,  have  established  themselves  within 
it,  either  by  conquest,  or  for  the  purposes  of  trade. 
But  the  two  principal  varieties  of  complexion  which 
prevail  from  the  northern  tropic,  or  a  little  higher,  to 
the  Cape  of  Good-^ope,  are  the  negro,  and  the 
Caffre.  The  Caffre  prevails  chiefly  towards  the 
southern  angle  of  the  peninsula,  and  along  the  south- 
eastern side,  distinguished,  however,  by  several  va- 
rieties of  shade,  occasioned  by  the  causes  v/hich 
have  been  already  suggested.  The  negro,  which  is 
the  blackest  colour  of  the  human  skin,  prevails  over 
the  greatest  portion  of  the  region  between  the  tro- 
pics, but  becomes  of  a  more  jetty  hue  as  we  ap- 
proach the  Avestern  coast.  The  cause  of  the  great 
difference  between  the  eastern  and  western  sides  of 
Africa  will  be  obvious  to  those  who  consider  the 
course  of  the  tropical  winds,  and  ihe  extreme  heat 
they  must  collect  from  the  immense  tract  of  burn.^ 
ing  sands  which  they  traverse  in  passing  over  that 
continent,  in  those  latitudes  where  it  spreads  itself 


221 

out  to  the  greatest  breadth.  The  winds  under  the 
equator,  following  the  course  of  the  sun,  reach  the 
eastern  coast  after  blowing  over  the  Arabian  and  In- 
dian seas ;  where  the  countries  of  Aian,  Zanguebar 
and  Monomotapa,  receive  their  breezes  gready  tem- 
pered by  that  vast  expanse  of  waters.  But  arriving 
at  Guinea,  and  the  neighbouring  regions  after  hav- 
ing traversed  three  thousand  miles  of  sand  heated 
by  a  vertical  sun,  they  glow  with  an  ardor  unknown 
in  any  other  portion  of  the  globe.  And  these  coun- 
tries, lying  in  that  part  of  the  zone  where  the  con- 
tinent is  widest  and  consequently  hottest,  the  natives 
are  distinguished  by  complexion  of  a  deeper  jet,  and 
by  more  deformed  features  than  those  on  the  south- 
ern side  of  the  equator,  on  the  coasts  of  Congo,  An- 
gola, and  Loango.  The  intense  heat  which,  in  this 
region,  produces  such  a  prodigious  change  on  the 
human  constitution,  equally  affects  the  whole  race  of 
beasts,  and  of  vegetables.  All  nature  bears  the 
marks  of  a  powerful  fire.  As  soon  as  the  traveller 
leaves  the  borders  of  the  few  rivers  ^vhich  flow 
through  this  tract,  where  he  sees  a  luxuriant  vege- 
tation, the  effect  of  moisture  combined  with  heat,  he 
immediately  enters  on  a  parched  and  naked  soil 
which  produces  little  else  than  a  few  scrubby  busheSj 


222 

-and  dry  and  husky  plants.  And  the  whole  interior, 
as  far  as  it  has  been  explored,  is  represented  to  be 
a  desert  of  burning  sand  which  often  rolls  in  waves 
before  the  winds.*  The  negro  therefore,  is  not 
changed  in  a  greater  degree,  from  the  Caffre,  the 
Moor,  or  the  European,  than  the  laws  of  climate, 
and  the  influence  of  manners,  as  they  have  been 
already  illustrated,  might  lead  us  to  expect. 

In  passing  above  the  river  Senegal  we  enter  on  a 
lighter  shade  of  the  negro  colour  ;  after  which,  as  we 
advance  towards  the  North,  and  before  we  arrive  at 
the  kingdom  of  Morocco,  we  find  the  darkest  cop- 
per of  the  Moorish  complexion.  But  all  this  tract  is 
filled  with  various  tribes  of  wandering  Moors  and 
Arabs,  and  often  with  a  mixed  breed,  the  offspring 
of  unions  formed  between  these,  and  the  native 
blacks,  among  whom  the  negro  complexion  pre- 
dominates ;  but  their  features  bear  a  greater  resem- 
blance to  tliose  of  the  Moors,  and  make  some  ap- 
proach to  the  European  face.  When  we  leave  the 
torrid  2:  one,  proceeding  to  the  South,  we  soon  ar- 

*  Bufifon  speaks  of  a  nation  in  the  center  of  Africa,  the 
Zuingcs,  who,  the  Arr^bian  writers  say,  are  often  ahiiost  entire- 
ly cut  off  by  hot  winds  that  rise  out  of  the  surrounding  deserts. 
And  in  the  desert,  the  ajicient  Syrtis,  the  traveller  is  fi'equently ' 
buried  btn:<cath  hills  of  sand  raibcd  by  hot  whirlwinds.- 


223 

rive  amon^  the  Hottentots,  and  approach  the  Caffre 
complexion  which  prevails  near  the  Cape,  and  along^ 
the  south-eastern  coast.     The  Hottentots,  however, 
are  of  a  deeper  hue  than  the  Moors  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  northern  tropic ;   because   the  Moors,   being 
more  civilized,   have  been  better  able   to   defend 
themselves  against  the  impressions  of  the  climate. 
But   the  HottentotSy  being  the  most  savage  of  man». 
kind,  suffer  its  influence  in  the  extreme.     Another 
circumstance  contributes   to  the  difference  of  the 
effect.     The  Moors  in  the  vicinity  of  the  tropic  re- 
ceive the  influence  of  the  climate  on  the  basis  of  a 
European,   or  Asiatic,  feature  and  complexion;  the 
Hottentot  on  a  basis   formed  under   the  equator. 
They  endeavour,  likewise,   by  every  mean  in  their 
power,  to  preserve  that  primitive  countenance  with 
which  they  must,  by  habit  and  education,  have  as- 
sociated the  idea  of  beauty.     For  savage,   and  al- 
most brutal  as  they  are,   they  have,  as  well  as  the 
most  civilized  people,  their  peculiar  notions  on  this 
subject.     They  flatten  the  nose  of  every  child  by 
pressure ;  and  they  endeavour  to  increase  the  blacks 
ness  of  their  complexion  by  rubbing  the  skin  with 
the   most  filthy  unguents,  and  exposing  it,  without 
any  protection,  to  the  full  force  of  a  scorching  sun. 


224 

Their  hair,  at  the  same  time,  is  injured  by  daubing 
it,  constantly,  with  the  vilest  compositions.  Yet, 
against  all  their  efforts,  the  climate,  although  it  is 
but  a  few  degrees  declined  from  the  torrid  zone, 
visibly  prevails.  Their  hair  is  thicker  and  longer 
than  that  of  the  negroes,  and  their  complexion,  as 
they  approach  the  southern  point  of  the  peninsula^ 
becomes  of  the  light  cast  of  the  Caffre.* 

But  the  phenomenon  which  principally  merits  our 
attention  in  the  African  zone  is  the  Abyssinian  per., 
son  and  complexion.  We  find  in  this  Alpine  re- 
gion, and  between  the  ninth  and  fifteenth  degrees 
from  the  equator,  a  race  of  men  resembling  the 
southern  Arabians,  only  of  a  darker  hue,  as  they  lie 
nearer  to  the  sun,  but  extremely  dissimilar  from  the 
negroes  on  the  West  coast.  Their  hair  is  long  and 
straight,  their  features  tolerably  regular,  and  their 
complexion  a  very  dark  olive,  approaching  to  black. 
—This  deviation  from  the  general  law  of  that  zone 
is   explained,  according  to   the  principles  already 


*  Many  peculiarities  have  been  related  of  these  people  with 
regard  to  tlieir  figure  and  appearance,  by  careless  voyagers, 
which  are  either  wholly  false,  or  very  greatly  exaggerated.  If 
we  were  to  trust  such  narrations,  we  should  suppose  thera  to 
be  hardly  distinguishable  from  certain  classes  of  the  brute- 
creation. 


225 

laid  down,  from  their  position  on  the  continent,  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  great  Indian  or  Arabian  ocean, 
and  from  the  elevated  and  mountainous  face  of  the 
country,  rising  at  a  medium,  at  least,  two  miles 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  *  and,  at  this  great  ele- 
vation,  covered  wiih  clouds,  and  drenched  by  al- 
most incessant  deluges  of  rain  during  one  half  of 
the  year.f — This  altitude  of  the  general  face  of  the 
country  in  Abyssinia  raises  it  to  a  region  of  the  at- 
mosphere which  is  equivalent,  in  its  temperature,  to 
several  degrees  of  northern  latitude.  Thus,  the 
partial  civilization  of  the  people,  the  elevation  of  the 
face  of  the  count  y,  the  temperature  of  the  tropical 
winds  coming  from  the  Arabian  ocean,  and  the  caii- 
ppy  of  clouds,  and  the  incessant  rains  which  prevail 
during  that  season  of  the  year  in  which  the  stni  is 


*  Philosophers  who  have  visited  that  country  infoiTA  us  tl  at 
the  mercury  in  the  burometer  does  not  rise  there,  on  an  avt  r* 
age,  more  thun  twenty  inches,  which  corresponds  to  the  ul'.i- 
tude  of  about  two  miles  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

t  The  periodical  rains  in  Abyssinia  are  now  known  to  be  tie 
cause  of  the  overflowing  of  the  Nile.  And  as  the  extent  of  tlis 
deluge  demonstrates  the  prodigious  quantities  of  rain  which 
tail  in  that  mountidnous  region  during  five  or  six  months  in  tie 
year,  so  tlie  length  of  the  river  issuing  from  those  mounttiins, 
afTords  a  new  pioof  of  their  great  elevation. 

D   D 


226 


vertical,  afford  an  adequate  cause  of  that  deviation 
whi^li  we  find  in  this  region  from  the  ordinary  com- 
plexion and  form  of  the  human  person,  presented  in 
other  parts  of  the  African  zone.^ 


.  *  After  these  descriptions  of  the  varieties  of  feature  and 
complexion  which  exist  under  the  stime  latitude,  and  the  rea- 
sons, I  trust  satisfactory  to  the  philosophic  rccider,  assigned 
for  them  in  the  essuy,  it  is  surprizing  to  see  tliese  very  varie- 
ties enumeruted,  by  the  Critical  Reviewers,  as  objections  to 
the  principles  of  the  essay,  as  if  no  explanation  of  them  had  been 
given,  or  atteippted.— "  If  we  examine  the  globe,  say  they,  we 
shall  find  a  very  considerable  diversity  in  countries  where  the 
heat  and  dryness  are  nearly  the  same.  Let  us  take  the  20th  de- 
gree of  latitude  which  is  within  tlie  Tropic  of  Cancer,  and  pas- 
ses directly  through  the  kingdom  of  the  negroes.  It  cuts  Nu- 
bia where  the  inhabitants  are  not  black." — I  say  tlie  inhabitants 
of  Nubia  are  not  so  black  as  those  on  the  western  coast  between 
the  rivers  Gambia  and  Senegal ;  but  when  they  say  that  they 
are  not  black,  or  that  Nubia  is  as  hot  as  the  West  coast, 
they  have  either  been  badly  informed,  or  are  greatly  biased  by 
their  system. — They  proceed,  "  it  cuts  Arabia  almost  in  its 
widest  part ;  but  the  Arabians  are  only  swarthy,  and  when 
transported  to  more  temperate  climes,  ai-e  almost  fair." — On 
the  other  hand,  the  widest  part  of  Arabia  lies  above  the  tropic, 
and  there  alone  we  find  the  swartliy  Arab  to  whom  their  re- 
marks can  apply.  And  though  the  southern  Arab  is  not  so 
black  as  the  negro,  sufficient  reasons,  I  presume,  have  been 
assigned  in  the  essay,  for  this  difference  in  the  comparative 
temperature  of  the  Arabian  peninsula. — "  It  divides,  say  they, 
tlie  Decan  where  those  best  defended  from  the  heat  are  only 
brown,  and  the  poorer  sort  are  of  a  darkish  hue  very  different 
from  black." — How  much  the  prepossession  of  system  has 


227 

It  now  remains  only  to  account  for  that  peculiar 
variety  of  complexion  and  countenance  exhibited  by 
the  savage  natives  of  America.  Their  complexion 
is  not  so  fair  as  that  of  Europe  or  of  Middle  Asia  ; 
nor  so  black  as  that  of  Africa.  And  there  is  a 
greater  uniformity  of  countenance  throughout  this 
whole  continent  than  is  found  in  any  other  region  of 
the  globe  of  equal  extent. 

That  the  natives  of  America  are  not  fair  results  as 
%  natural  consequence  from  the  principles  already 
established  in  this  essay.  Savages  will  always  be 
discoloured,  even  in  temperate  climates,  by  different 
shades  of  the  tawny  complexion.     And  if  we  do  not 


diluted  their  colours  !— But  surely  after  this,  they  need  not 
complain,  as  they  have  done,  of  the  inaccurivcy  of  terms  by 
which  the  grades  of  complexion  are  distinguished  in  the  essi.y. 
— They  have,  at  least,  implicitly  acknowledged  the  great  effect 
upon  the  human  skin  which  muy  result  from  the  state  of  society 
in  which  men  are  pLxcd,  combined  with  the  influence  of  cli- 
mate. But,  if  these  gentlemen  would  patiently  advert  to  the 
comparative  mildness  of  the  Indian  zone,  to  the  great  mixture 
of  northern  nations,  which  time  has  brought  togetlier,  especi- 
ally in  upper  India,  and  the  vicinity  of  the  twentietli  degree  of 
latitude  to  the  temperate  climates,  tiiey  would  find  little  f.cca» 
sion  for  their  remarks. — They  observe  further,  "  t!  at  t^is 
parallel  passes  over  the  kingdom  of  Mexico  and  the  s<  u.h- 
westem  end  of  Cuba."— The  insinuation  implied  rather  than 
expressed  in  this  observation  will  be  answered  hun-coiuLeiy 
tphec  I  come  to  speak  of  the  climate  of  tropical  America. 


228 

find  any  tribes  resembling  some  of  the  niitions  of 
Africa  in  the  deep  jet  of  their  colour,  it  proceeds 
from  the  mild  temperature  of  the  tropical   zone  in 
America.     Mexico,  which  forms  the  northern  por- 
tion of  that  zone,  consists  chiefly  of  a  narrow  neck 
of  land  dividing  the  Atlantic  from  the  Pacific  ocean, 
and  every  where  rising  into  high  hills.     As  yoii 
proceed  to  the  South  immediately  below  the  isthmus 
of  Darien,  Terra  Firma,  on  one  side,  presents  an 
Alpine  bed  of  lofty  mountains.     On  the  other  side 
runs  the  chain  of  the  Andes,  with  its  elevated  sum- 
mi's  covered  with  snow.     On  the  West  of  these  lies 
the  naiTow  empire  of  Peru,  constantly  refreshed  by 
temperate  winds  from  the  Pacific  ocean,  and  over- 
shadowed by  a  canopy  of  dense  vapour  which  pre- 
ve.its  the  rays  of  the  sun  penetrating  with  great  forc« 
to  tlie  earth.     On  the  East  is  spread  out  the  im- 
mense country  of  Amazonia  flooded  during  a  great 
portion  of  the  year  by  the  waters  of  the  Maragnon, 
and  its  tributary  rivtrs,  and  covered  with  thick  and 
d^^rk  forests,  beneath  which  grows  a  luxuriant  tissue 
of  \  ines  and  weeds  which  can  hardly  be  penetrated 
by  the  traveller,  and  utterly  excludes  the  sun.     Here 
are  no  arid  deserts  of  sand;   and  from  such  a  rich 
vegetable  growth  arises  a  refrigerating  perspiration 


^29 

which,  together  with  the  vapour  of  so  many  streams, 
united  with  the  effluvia  of  the  moist  and  shaded 
earth  that  cannot  be  wholly  absorbed  even  by  the 
thick  vegetation  on  its  surface,  produces  an  uncom- 
mon coolness  in  the  atmosphere.*  This  moderate 
temperature  is  increased  by  the  East  wind  which 
perpetually  follows  the  course  of  the  sun  through  the 
equatorial  regions.  Having  deposited  in  the  Atlantic 
ocean  the  excessive  heats  acquired  in  its  passage 
across  the  continent  of  Africa  it  regains  a  tempera- 
ture comparatively  mild  before  it  arrives  at  the 
American  coast ;  whence  it  continues  its  course  over 
thick  forests  and  flooded  lands,  till  it  meets  the  cold 
ranges  of  the  Andes.  The  lofty  and  spreading  for- 
ests of  tropical  America  are  at  once  a  proof  of  thtf 
temperature  of  the  atmosphere,  and  contribute  to 

*  Dr.  Robertson  quotes  two  eminent  naturalists,  Piso  and 
Margrave,  who  had  resided  long  in  Brazil,  who  represent  the 
climate  as  being  very  temfierate  and  7nild  compared  with  that  of 
Jfrica.  The  air.,  they  say,  is  not  only  cool.,  but  chilly  throtigh 
the  night.,  insomuch  that  the  natives  ki7idle  Jires  every  even- 
ing in  their  huts.  This  is  confirmed  by  different  writers  con- 
cerning various  countries  within  that  vast  region,  viz.  Neuhoff 
conceiving  Brazil ;  Gumilla  concerning  the  countries  on  the 
Oronoco ;  Acugna  concerning  those  along  the  Amazon  ;  and 
Biet  in  his  voyage  de  la  France  Equinox,  gives  a  similar  ac- 
count of  Cavcnne. — Hist.  Amcr.  Note  5th,  vol.  2d. 


230 

promote  it.  Extreme  heat  parches  the  unprotected 
soil  of  Africa,  and  converts  it  into  an  arid  sand. 
The  luxuriant  vegetation  which  prevails  in  the  tro- 
pical latitudes  of  America  is  the  fruit  of>^  moist 
earth,  and  a  temperate  sky.  And  the  natives,  in- 
habiting perpetual  shade,  and  respiring  in  the  refrig- 
erating and  grateful  effluvia  of  a  fresh  and  rich 
growth  of  vegetables,  enjoy  a  moderate  climate  in  the 
midst  of  the  torrid  zone. 

These  facts  tend  to  shew  that,  as  far  as  heat  is 
concerned  in  the  effect,  the  complexion  of  the  Ame- 
rican, must  be  much  lighter  than  that  of  the  Afri- 
can, or  even  of  the  Asiatic  zone  :  and  the  mildness 
of  temperature  which  prevails  over  such  a  vast  ex- 
tent of  country  contributes,  in  no  inconsiderable 
degree,  to  tliat  uniformity  of  countenance  which  is 
thought  to  be  peculiar  to  the  aboriginal  tribes  of 
America,  but  which  is  the  result  chiefly  of  that  uni- 
form state  of  society  in  which  they  almost  all  exist. 
Except  the  Peruvians,  and  Mexicans,  and  a  few 
smaller  tribes  in  the  southern  continent,  the  whole 
are  sunk  nearly  to  the  same  condition  of  savagism. 
Destitute  of  that  variety  of  ideas  and  emotions  which 
give  variety  of  expression  to  the  human  counte- 
nance, the  same  vacancy  of  aspect  is  spread  over" 


231 

all;  and  the  same  set  and  composition,  nearly,  is 
given  to  the  features.  When  to  this  common  re- 
semblance, created  by  their  state  of  society,  and 
similar  habits  of  living,  we  add  that  the  general  com- 
plexion of  tropical  America  is  but  a  few  shades 
darker  than  that  which  is  the  natural  result  of  savage 
life  even  in  temperate  climates,  we  probably  per- 
ceive  the  true  causes  of  the  apparent  uniformity  of  the 
American  countenance.  There  is,  however,  a  visi- 
ble increase  of  the  dark  hue  as  we  proceed  towards 
the  circle  of  the  equator,  which  is  also  the  widest 
part  of  the  southern  continent.  And  here,  there  are 
many  tribes  of  the  natives  stained  with  as  deep  a 
colour  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern  extremity 
of  the  Indian  peninsula.  The  Mexicans  and  Peru- 
vians, and  a  few  small  nations  in  their  vicinity, 
among  whom  we  discern  the  first  imperfect  elements 
of  civilized  life,  although  preserving  the  general  out- 
line of  the  American  countenance,  have  a  softness 
thrown  over  it  which  distinguishes  it  from  that  of  the 
northern  savages.  Their  features  are  more  regular, 
and  handsomely  turned ;  and  they  appear  to  bear  a 
nearer  resemblance  to  the  inhabitants  of  many  of  the 
islands  of  the  great  South  Sea,  from  whom,  it  is 
probable,  they  derive  their  origin.     The  Malays, 


i\ho  were  originally  Tartars,  having,  at  some  re- 
mote period,  taken  possession  of  the  farther  India, 
afterwards  spread  themselves  over  the  greater  part  of 
the  islands  of  that  vast  ocean,  conquering,  and  driv- 
ing to  the  mountains  in  the  interior  of  some,  and  in 
others,  reducing  to  slavery,  or  extirpating,  the 
primitive  inhabitants.  Not  being  addicted  to  com- 
merce, these  insular  colonies,  have  not  long  main- 
tained any  intercourse  with  the  parent  country, 
and  have  therefore  retained  the  knowledge  of  only  a 
few  of  the  arts  with  which  their  ancestors  were  ac* 
quainted.*  But  with  these  few  they  have  probably 
advanced  from  island  to  island  till,  at  length,  they 
reached  the  western  shore  of  the  American  conti- 


*  That  eithei'  the  tmccstors  of  the  present  inhiibitants  of 
many  of  those  islands,  or  the  nations  whom  they  have  extirpat' 
ed,  possessed  the  is.nowledge  of  arts  which  are  now  lost  from 
among  them,  is  evident  from  the  monuments  of  architecture 
and  sculpture  which  still  remain.  Several  monuments  of  an- 
cient art  are  found  even  in  the  small  isUaid  of  E.stcr  ■^^  hich  is  so 
deeply  embosomed  in  the  ocean,  and  approaches  so  near  to  the 
American  continent,  which  are  beyond  the  skill  or  power  of  it? 
present  inhabitants  to  effect.  The  resemblance  of  the  works 
which  are  found  in  Java,  and  some  neighboring  islands,  to  those 
of  Elephantaand  Salsette,  demonstrate  the  relation  of  those  an- 
cient people  to  the  nations  of  India.  While  the  religipus  worr 
ship  of  the  Peruvians  bears  a  strong  testimony  to  their  AsikUc 


233 

nent.  Here  they  seem  to  have  laid  the  foundations 
of  those  empires  which  the  Europeans,  on  their 
arrival  in  America,  found  as  yet  only  in  the  first 
stage  of  civilized  society.  Their  earliest  estab- 
lishments were  evidently  made  in  Peru.  After- 
wards Mexico  api^ears  to  have  been  foui-ded  about 
three  centuries  before  the  discovery.  From  this 
empire  a  few  tribes  probably  found  their  way  farther 
«p  into  the  continent,  to  the  North  of  the  Mexican 
gulph.*  But  here  they  were  met  by  ruder  and  fier- 
cer tribes  whose  ancestors  had  come  from  Asia  by  a 
different  route.  But  whether  leaving  Asia,  and  en- 
tering America  by  the  North,  or  by  the  South,  the 
remote  ancestry  of  both  appear  to  have  originated 
nearly  from  the  same  regions.  And  in  all  the  Ame- 
rican Indians  we  discover  visible  traits  of  the  Tartar 
countenance. 

The  last  apparent  exception  to  the  general  princi- 
ples of  the  essay  which  I  think  it  necessary  to  notice 
is  found  in  the  islands  of  the  Indian  and  Pacific 
oceans.     In  these  seas  people  have  been  discovered 


•  Such  were  probably  the  Natchez,  several  of  whose  cus- 
toms resembled  those  of  the  Peruvians.  And  geneia.ly,  the 
tribes  in  that  vicinity  between  the  Mississippi  and  Mexico 
were  of  a  milder  character  than  the  nortiiern  indians. 

E  E 


^■34, 

in  islands  existing  in  the  vicinity  of  one  another,  and 
often  in  the  same  island,  of  various  complexions. 
The  chief  of  them  I  shall  present  to  the  reader  as  they 
have  been  described  by  some  of  the  most  accurate 
observers,  and  eminent  naturalists  who  accompanied 
the  celebrated  Captain  Cook.  The  inhabitants  of 
Otaheitee  are  divided  into  two  classes. — The  Tow- 
towsy  or  servile  class,  who  are  occupied  in  such  la- 
bors as  the  simple  condition  of  the  people  requires  : 
and  the  Arees,  who  may  be  regarded  as  the  proprie- 
tors of  the  soil^  and  who  arc  exempted  from  every 
laborious  occupation ;  spending  their  lives  amidst 
such  pleasures  and  amusements  as  tlie  climate  per- 
mits, and  their  uncultivated  state  of  society  affords. 
The  former,  besidies  the  burdensome  tasks  which 
they  arc  obliged  daily  to  perform,  are  reduced  to  a 
much  more  scanty  provision  of  food  than  their  mas- 
ters, and  are  exposed,  without  clothing,  to  the  full 
impression  of  the  sun.  These,  though  not  stain- 
ed with  the  deep  jet  of  the  torrid  regions  of  Africa, 
are  of  a  much  blacker  hue,  than  the  superior  class 
of  the  Arees,  who  are  exposed  to  no  hardships,  arc 
always  well  clothed,*  and  enjoy  not  only  a  suffi- 


*  In  a  handsome  aiid  light  cloth  the  peculiar  fabric  of  thoae- 

islaiids. 


S35 

ciency,  but  abundance  of  simple,  indeed,  but  nutri- 
tious food.*  The  Arees  are  represented  to  be,  in 
general,  a  people  of  good  stature,  fine  figure,  pleas- 
ing features,  and  proportions  of  person,  and  of  a 
complexion  so  light,  in  the  women  especially,  as  to 
render  the  stain  of  blushing  easily  perceptible. f 

Passing  on  to  the  north-east,  about  the  region  of 
the  tropic,  we  come  to  the  Marquesas  isles,  in 
which  the  women,  who  are  clothed  like  the  Otahei- 
teans,  exhibit  the  same  general  appearance  ;  but  the 
men,  who  universally  go  naked,  are  of  a  darker  hue. 
Their  food  is  neither  so  nutritious,  nor  so  abundant 
as  that  of  the  inhabitants  of  Otaheitee  :  and  a  less 
fertile  soil  has  imposed  upon  them  a  general  neces- 
sity of  labor.  Hence,  besides  the  greater  discol- 
ouration of  their  skin,  they  are  seldom  so  corpulent 

*  Bread  fruit,  apples,  cocoa-nuts,  yams,  eddoes,  and  otlier 
excellent  fruits  and  roots  which  grow  in  great  profusion  al- 
most without  culture  in  their  mild  climate,  and  fertile  soil. 
Add  to  these,  poultry,  and  hogs  of  a  very  sweet  and  succulent 
flesh,  and  dogs  which  are  there  kept  only  for  the  purpose  of  food. 

t  The  principal  defects  of  their  countenance  are  said  to  be  a 
little  bluntness  of  the  nose,  a  small  protuberance  of  the  lips,  di- 
latation of  the  middle  of  the  face,  and  a  gentle  swell  or  plump- 
ness of  its  features  in  general ;  which,  however,  in  this  simple 
people,  appears  agreeable. 


236 

as  the  Otahelteans,  though  commonly  of  a  more 
muscular  form.  And  these  effects  are  supposed,  by 
the  naturalists  whom  1  have  before  mentioned,  to  be 
iiicreased  by  the  position  of  their  habitations,  which 
are  never  placed  like  those  of  the  Otaheiteans,  on 
beautiful  and  fertile  plains,  but  generally  on  the 
slopes,  and  often  on  the  summits  of  very  high  hills  ; 
so  that  whenever  they  move  abroad,  they  are  neces- 
sarily in  a  state  of  strenuous  exertion. 

From  the  inhabitants  of  the  Marquesas,  the  peo- 
pie  of  the  Friendly  Isles,  who,  from  choice,  or  from 
necessity,  are  addicted  to  the  same  habits  of  indus- 
try and  exertion,  do  not  differ  much  either  in  com- 
plexion or  in  figure. 

But  far  to  the  East,  and  nearly  at  an  equal  dis- 
tance from  the  Society  Isles,  and  the  American  con- 
tinent, we  discover  the  small,  and  thinly  inhabited 
island  of  Easter.  The  natives  of  this  remote  and 
solitary  spot  are  subjected  to  greater  hardships  than 
those  of  the  islands  which  have  just  been  mentioned  ; 
and  living  in  a  still  ruder  state  of  society,  are  repre- 
sented as  being  more  slender  in  their  persons,  and 
more  daik  and  coppery  in  their  complexion,  not 
unlike  the  Peruvians  of  the  neighboring  continent. 
Several  relics  of  ancient  art,  however,    bearing  s 


237 

striking  resemblance  to  the  remaining  monuments 
of  ancient  indian  architecture  and  superstition,  de- 
monstrate that  this  island  has  once  been  possessed  by 
a  people  who  had  made  greater  advances  in  the  pro- 
gress towards  civilization  than  the  present  inhabitants. 
Within  the  same  latitudes,  and  not  remote  from 
the  Society,  and  Friendly  Isles  lies  the  group  of  the 
New  Hebrides.  Of  these  several  are  inhabited  by 
a  people  more  savage  than  the  former.  Their  inhab* 
itants,  especially  those  of  Mallicollo,  of  New  Cale- 
donia and  Tanna,  are  distinguished  by  a  sooty  com- 
plexion. Their  hair,  though  not  so  short,  and 
closely  napped  as  that  of  the  Africans,  is  frizzled 
and  woolly.  And  in  their  whole  appearance,  they 
bear  some  analogy  to  the  miserab  e  inhabitants  of 
the  neighboring  region  of  New  Holland ;  except 
that  their  slender  persons  are  better  turned,  and 
they  possess  much  greater  vivacity  of  disposition. 
The  natives  of  Papua,  and  New  Guinea  exhibit 
nearly  the  same  colour  of  the  skin,  and  the  same 
form  of  the  hair.  But  in  all  the  large  islands  near 
the  Indian  continent  there  are  very  distinctly  marked 
two  races  of  men  ; — one  inhabiting  the  mountainous 
countries  every  where  occupying  the  iiuerior  of 
those  islands ;  the  other  possessing  the  low  and  level 


238 

lands  near  the  sea  coast.  The  former  exhibit  many- 
points  of  resemblance  with  the  Hindoo  tribes  :  the 
latter  are  evidently  of  Malayan  original. 

Thus  I  have  presented  to  the  reader  the  three 
principal  varieties  of  men  which  are  found  in  the 
Indian  and  Pacific  oceans, — the  blacks  of  New  Hol- 
land, New  Guinea,  the  New  Hebrides,  and  Papua; — 
a  people  of  dark  olive  colour,  inhabiting  the  moun- 
tainous interior  of  the  large  islands ; — and  those  who 
possess  the  low  and  level  countries  in  the  same 
islands,  who  also  occupy  the  greater  part  of  the 
groupes  of  smaller  islands  scattered  through  those 
seas,  all  of  whom  exhibit  different  shades  of  the 
tawny  complexion. — Of  these,  the  first  are  probably 
descendents  of  that  original  stock  who  were  formed 
by  the  climate,  while  they  were  yet  in  their  most 
rude  and  saA-age  condition.  The  second  have  all 
the  appearance  of  being  the  remnants  of  Hindoo  co^ 
Ionics  who  had  established  themselves  in  those  isles 
in  some  remote  period  when  the  Indian  empire 
was  in  a  much  more  flourishing  condition  than  at 
present.  But  expelled  at  length  from  the  sea  coast 
by  Malayan  conquerors,  who  form  the  third  race, 
they  have  retired  to  the  mountains,  and  there 
become  savage.      These  conquerors,  in  a  distant 


S39 

SLgCj  issuing  from  the  Nortli  of  Asia,  having 
subdued  the  farther  India,  at  length  spread  them- 
selves over  almost  all  the  islands  in  those  extensive 
seas.* 

If  it  be  asked,  why  have  not  these  several  varieties 
been  long  since  melted  down  into  one  uniform  coun- 
tenance by  the  operation  of  the  climate  which  is  sup- 
posed to  possess  such  a  powerful  influence  over  the 
human  constitution  ? — It  is  well  understood  by  nat- 
uralists that  various  races  capable  of  propagating 
their  kind,  may  be  formed  out  of  the  same  original 
stock  of  animals,  or  of  plants,  and  that,  by  proper 
culture   and    care,   they  may  forever  be  preserved 


*  This  is  an  inference  justified  not  only  by  the  general  re^ 
semblance  of  all  these  people  to  one  another,  but  by  the  evie' 
dent  vestiges  of  the  same  language,  which  those,  who  are  best 
acquainted  with  them,  discern  in  the  vocabularies  of  all  those- 
islands. 

Traces  of  tliis  language  are  perceived  says  Reland,  [dissers- 
tationes  miscellsineae,  vol.  iii.]  not  only  in  the  tongues  spoken 
in  these  numerous  isles,  but  in  those  used  by  the  continental 
nations  inhabiting  the  middle  of  Asia,  as  the  Persic,  the  Mala- 
buric,  and  even  the  Braminic.  And  the  common  origin  of  so 
many  different  dialects  is  most  obvious  in  tlieir  vocabularies  of 
names  which  express  the  most  common,  familiar,  and  useful 
objects,  and  such  as  must  have  been  known,  and  even  necesr 
&ary,  equally  to  them,  and  to  tlieir  ancestors,  in  every  stage  of 
*Jieir  improvement. 


240 

distinct.  In  forming  the  diflferent  races  of  men*' 
other  causes  are  combined  not  less  powerful  than 
climate.  Manners,  education,  habits  of  living,  and 
all  those  causes  comprehended  under  the  general 

*  Blumenbach  attempts  to  throw  the  different  races  of  men 
into  five  principal  divisions,  viz.  tlie  Ciucaniayi  or  hcindsoniest 
race,  the  primary  seat  of  which  was  about  the  Euxinc  and  Cas- 
pian seas,  and  the  countries  somewhat  to  the  South,  from 
whom  came  the  Europeans.  Second,  the  Mongou^  or  people 
inhabiting  the  North-East  of  Asia,  with  their  descendents  to  the 
East,  of  that  continent.  Third,  the  African.  Fourth,  the 
American,  And  fifth  the  Malayan.,  occupying  the  South-East 
of  Asia,  and  a  great  part  of  the  isles  in  the  Indian  and  great 
South  seas. 

Leibnitz,  ranks  them  under  four  orders  :— the  Laponian^ 
the  Ethiopic  ;  the  eastern  Mongou,  comprehending  the  peo- 
ple of  Asia  ;  and  the  western  Mongou,  embracing  those  of 
Europe. 

Linnaeus  likewise  divides  them  into  four  : — the  red  Ameri- 
can ;  the  white  European  ;  the  dark  coloured  Asiatic  ;  and  the 
black  Ethiopian. 

Buffon  arranges  them  in  six  ; — ^the  Laponian  in  the  North  of 
Europe  and  Asia ;  the  Tartar  in  the  North-E^jst  of  Asia  ;  tlie 
southern  Asiatic  ;  the  European;  the  Ethiopian,  and  the  Ame- 
rican. 

Various  other  divisions  have  been  made  by  different  wri- 
ters ;  as,  the  Abbe  de  la  Croix;  Kant;  Dr.  John  Hunter;  Zim- 
merman, and  others. — Thee  onclusion  to  be  drawn  from  all  this 
vai'iety  ©f  opinions  is,  perhaps,  that  it  is  impossible  to  dratr 
the  line  precisely  between  the  various  races  of  men,  or  even 
to  enumerate  them  with  certainty  ;  and  that  it  is  in  itself  a  use- 
less labor  to  attempt  it. 


241 

head  oithe  state  of  society,  have  a  powerful  operation 
in  preserving,  and  augmenting,  or  in  guarding 
against  the  impressions  of  climate,  and  in  modifying 
the  whole  appearance  of  the  human  person  and 
countenance.  And  after  the  characters  of  a  race 
have  once  been  completely  formed,  and  thoroughly- 
incorporated  into  the  system,  they  may,  by  the  in- 
fluence of  the  same  moral  causes,  and  the  application 
of  the  same  arts  which  contributed  to  create  them, 
be,  in  their  principal  features,  perpetuated  in  the  most 
various  climates.  Nations,  sprung  from  the  same 
original  stock,  may  be  traced,  by  many  points  of 
resemblance,  through  different  climates  ;  and  differ- 
ent races  may  long  preserve  their  peculiar,  and  most 
discriminating  properties  in  the  same  climate  ;  espe- 
cially if,  like  the  inhabitants  of  these  islands,  their 
customs,  their  prejudices,  or  antipathies  prevent  them 
from  amalgamating,  and  confounding  their  stocks.-— 
Hence  the  resemblances  and  differences  which  exist 
among  the  various  people  of  the  numerous  islands 
of  the  great  South  Sea,  the  Indian,  and  Pacific 
oceans.  And  hence  that  mixture  of  races  extend- 
ed along  the  Senegal  in  Africa,  and  scattered 
through  the  intermediate  space  between  that  river 
and  the  Gambia,    where  we   meet  with   ne§;roes» 

r  F 


242 

Moors,  and  Arabs,    and  often  with  a  race  mixed 
and  compounded  of  all  the  others.* 

Having  now  concluded  the  investigation  which  I 
proposed  into  the  causes  of  the  principal  varieties 
in  complexion  and  figure  which  distinguish  the  dif^ 
ferent  nations  of  men  from  one  another,  it  gives  me 
pleasure  to  observe  on  this,  as  on  many  other  sub- 

*  This  region  seems  to  form  the  general  boundary  between 
the  Moorish  and  Arab,  or  dusky  and  yellow  population  in  the 
northern  portion  of  Africa,  and  the  negro,  or  black  population 
in  the  center.  It  is  a  broad  belt  which  borders  the  African 
zone  from  the  twelftli  or  thirteenth  degree  of  latitude  to  the 
tropic,  and  extending  from  the  Atlantic  ocean,  to  the  mountains 
of  Abyssinia — Mr.  Park  api>ears  to  regard  the  Foulah  tribes, 
who  are  lighter  in  their  complexion  than  other  negroes,  witU 
softer  and  longer  hair,  as  related  by  mixture  to  the  Arabs, 
whom  they  I'esemble  in  their  attachment  to  a  pastoral  life. 
Those  wandering  and  predatory  tribes  which  are  caLed  by  thft 
general  denomination  of  Moors,  who  surround  and  penetrate 
the  great  desert,  and  have  dispersed  themselves  in  various 
hordes  as  fur  as  the  Niger,  are,  not  improbably,  the  remains 
of  several  civilized  nations  of  antit;uity,  Caitliaginians,  Phoe- 
nicians, Romans  who  at  different  periods  possessed  tix  North 
of  Africa,  blended  with  the  Numidians  aiid  ^lauritanians,  and 
reduced  almost  to  savagism  by  being  scattered  through  the  in- 
hospitable deserts  of  that  arid  ai;d  ungenial  country. 

This  is  the  circle  which  the  Critical  Reviewers  have  dexter- 
ously selected  for  examples  of  diversity  of  complexion  within 
the  troplc;d  latitudes  in  order  to  impugn  the  pi  inciples  of  tiiis 
essay  while  they  have  not  had  the  candor  to  notice,  as  philoso- 
phers, the  soluiiba  which  is  given  of  this  phenomenon. 


243 

jects  which  have  been  attempted  to  be  formed  into 
objections  against  the  sacred  history,  that  the  most 
extensive  and  accurate  researches  into  the  actual 
state,  and  the  powers  of  nature,  have  ever  served^ 
more  and  more  to  confirm  the  flicts  vouched  to  us 
by  the  authority  of  holy  writ.  A  just  philosophy 
will  always  be  found  coincident  with  the  true  theol- 
ogy. But  I  must  repeat  here  an  observation  which 
I  made  in  the  beginning  of  this  essay,  and  which  i 
trust  I  am  now  entitled  to  make  with  more  confi- 
dence, that  the  denial  of  the  unity  of  the  human  spe- 
cies tends  to  impair,  if  not  entirely  to  destroy,  the 
foundations  of  duty  and  morals,  and,  in  a  word,  of 
the  whole  science  of  human  nature.  No  general 
principles  of  conduct,  or  religion,  or  even  of  civil 
policy,  could  be  derived  from  natures  originally  and 
essentially  difterent  from  one  another,  and,  after- 
wards, in  the  perpetual  changes  of  the  world,  infin- 
itely mixed  and  compounded.  The  principles  and 
rules  which  a  philosopher  might  derive  from  the 
study  of  his  own  nature,  could  not  be  applied  with 
certainty  to  regulate  the  conduct  of  other  men,  and 
other  nations,  who  might  be  of  totally  different  spe- 
cies ;  or  sprung  from  a  very  dissimilar  composition 
of  species.    The  terms  which  one  man  would  frame 


244 

to  express  the  ideas  and  emotions  of  his  own  mind 
must  convey  to  another  a  meaning  as  different  as  the 
organization  of  their  respective  natures.  But  when 
the  whole  human  race  is  known  to  compose  only 
one  species,  this  confusion  and  uncertainty  is  remov- 
ed, and  the  science  of  human  nature,  in  all  its  rela- 
tions, becomes  susceptible  of  system.  The  principles 
of  morals  rest  on  sure  and  immutable  foundations. 
—Its  unity  I  have  endeavoured  to  confirm  by  ex- 
plaining the  causes  of  its  variety.  Of  these,  the  first 
1  have  shewn  to  be  climate,  by  which  is  meant,  not 
so  much  the  latitude  of  a  country  from  the  equator, 
as  the  degree  of  heat  or  cold,  which  often  depends 
on  a  great  variety  of  other  circumstances.  The  next 
is  the  state  of  society,  which  may  augment  or  cor- 
rect the  influence  of  climate,  and  is  itself  a  separate 
and  independent  cause  of  many  conspicuous  dis- 
tinctions among  mankind.  These  causes  may  be  in- 
finitely varied  in  degree  ;  and  their  effects  may  like- 
wise be  diversified  by  various  combinations.  And, 
in  the  continual  migrations  of  mankind,  these  effects 
may  be  still  further  modified,  by  changes  which  have 
antecedently  taken  place  in  a  prior  climate,  and  a 
prior  state  of  society.  Even  where  all  external  cir- 
cumstances seem  to  be  tlie  same,  there  may  be 


245 

causes  of  difference  depending  on  many  natural  in- 
fluences with  which  philosophy  is  not  yet  acquaint- 
cd  ;  as  there  are  varieties  among  the  children  of  the 
same  family.  Frequently  we  see,  in  the  same  coun- 
try individuals  resembling  every  nation  on  the 
globe.  Such  varieties  prove,  at  least,  that  the  hu- 
man constitution  is  susceptible  of  all  the  modifica- 
tions which  exist  among  mankind,  without  having 
recourse,  in  order  to  account  for  them,  to  the  un- 
necessary, and  therefore  unphilosophical  hypothesis 
of  there  having  existed  from  the  beginning,  different 
original  species  of  men.  It  is  not  more  astonishing 
in  itself,  or  out  of  the  order  of  nature,  that  nations 
sprung  from  the  same  stock,  than  that  individuals 
should  differ.  In  the  one  case  we  are  assured  of 
the  fact  from  observation ;  in  the  other,  we  have 
reason  to  conclude,  independently  on  the  sacred  au- 
thority of  revelation,  that  from  one  pair  have  de. 
scended  all  the  families  of  the  earth. 


REMARKS 


ON 

CERTAIN  STRICTURES  MADE  ON  THE  FIRSt 
EDITION  OF  THIS  ESSAY, 

BY  MR.  CHARLES    WHITE, 

In  a  series  of  Discourses  delivered  to  the  Litei*ary  and 
Philosophical  Society  of  Manchester  in  England. 

Published  in  London.,  in  quarto, 
in  the  year  1799. 

■^■-  •  .  -     /■ .   ■  -A.-j..  ,-',»^ 


REMARKS, 


IYIR.  Charles  White  having,  in  a  series  of  dis» 
courses  delivered  to  the  literary  and  philosophical 
society  of  Manchester  in  England,  made  several 
strictures  on  the  first  edition  of  this  essay,  and  ap- 
pealed to  certain  anatomical  facts  which  he  supposes 
to  stand  in  opposition  to  its  principles,  I  have  con- 
ceived it  to  be  a  duty  which  I  owe  to  myself,  and  a 
respect  due  to  the  ingenuity  of  Mr.  White,  to  point 
out  some  mistakes  in  his  facts,  and  some  errors  ill 
the  conclusions  which  he  has  drawn  from  them.  The 
facts  subjected  to  his  own  inspection  were  derived 
principally  from  an  examination  of  a  single  African 
skeleton,  though  afterwards  confirmed  by  other  skeU 
etons,  and  by  some  living  subjects.  And  I  readily 
admit  that  the  picture  which  he  has  presented  to  us 
exhibits  with  sufficient  accuracy  a  general  image  of 
that  miserable  and  degraded  class  of  Africans  who 
are  introduced  as  slaves  into  the  islands  of  the 
West- Indies,  or  the  United  States  of  America,  most 

G   G 


250 

of  whom  had  before  been  slaves,  or  were  taken  from 
the  poorest  and  most  abject  class  of  the  population 
in  their  own  country.*  If  their  characteristic  physi-* 
ognomy  may,  in  part,  be  ascribed  to  the  influence  of 
the  climate,  much  certainly  ought  to  be  imputed  to 
their  miserable  habits  of  living.  For  it  is  evident  to 
every  eye  capable  of  comparing  an  American,  with 
an  African  negro,  that  the  change  of  climate,  and  of 
their  manner  of  subsistence,  has  already  produced 
in  the  posterity  of  the  Africans,  all  the  alteration  in 
their  appearance  which,  in  so  short  a  period  of  time, 

*  We  find  from  Mr.  Park's  examination  of  the  region 
lying  between  the  Senegal,  the  Niger,  and  the  Gambia, 
that  more  than  three  fourths  of  the  African  population 
consist  of  the  servile  class,  in  a  country  in  which  the  freest 
appear  to  be  in  a  condition  sufficiently  wretched.  From  this 
servile  class  almost  all  the  slaves  imported  into  America  are 
taken.  Now  and  then,  however,  we  find  one  who  has  been 
decoyed,  or  borne  off  by  force  from  among  those  who  belong 
to  the  superior  grades  of  tlieir  society.  When  tliis  is  the  case, 
he  is  commonly  distinguished  by  a  more  erect  person,  and 
-more  open  countenance  than  his  companions,  vdth  less  of  what 
is  called  the  African  peculiarity  of  feature.  A  proof  that  the 
most  disgusting  qualities  of  the  African  countenance  result 
from  the  abject  state  of  poverty  and  subjection  in  which  their 
slaves,  and  the  lowest  classes  of  their  population  exist.  This 
conclusion  is  confinned  by  the  amelioration  which  their  features 
are  undergoing  in  the  United  States,  especially  in  the  families 
of  wealthy  and  iiumane  masters. 


251 

could  justly  be  expected,  allowing  to  the  principles 
maintained  in  the  preceeding  essay  their  full  and 
necessary  operation.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  apply  this 
remark  to  the  American  slaves,  ih  general ;  but  it  is 
applicable  especially  to  the  domestic  slaves  of  opu- 
lent families  in  the  southern  states,  aisd  the  free 
blacks  who  are  found  in  considerble  nun. b.  is  in  the 
northern  portion  of  the  Union.  The  most  op- 
pressed  and  destitute  of  these  slaves,  with  vcr>  few 
exceptions,  are  better  fed,  clothed,  and  lodged,  than 
their  ancestors  were  in  Africa.*     But  there  is  a  visi- 


*  Very  exaggerated  descriptions  are  often  given  of  the 
severities  practised,  and  the  deprivations  imposed,  on  the  slaves 
in  the  southern  states.  I  have  visited  ail  tiiose  states,  and  re- 
sided several  years  in  Virginia  without  ever  having  been  the 
owner  of  a  slave  in  any  of  them,  and  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  be 
able  to  say  that,  except  in  a  very  few  instances,  I  have  general- 
ly witnessed  a  humane  treatment  exercised  towards  that  de- 
pendent and  humiliated  race  of  men.  If  it  be  asked,  why,  then, 
are  they  not  emancipated  ?  The  answer  to  this  question  involves 
political  considerations  which  it  does  not  belong  to  me  at  pre- 
sent to  discuss.  But  I  believe  the  public  safety  necessarily  pre- 
vents a  speedy  accomplishment  of  an  event  so  desirable  to  hu- 
manity. 

But  in  justice  to  the  southern  planters  I  must  add  tliat  their 
treatment  of  their  slaves  is  not  to  be  estimated  by  what  too  fre- 
quently takes  place  in  the  British  West-Indian  colonies.  Sev- 
eral circumstances  unnecessaiy,  or  improper  to  be  mentioned 
kere,  contribute  to  the  severity  of  the  slavery  that  exists  in 
those  islands. 


252 

ble  difference,  as  I  have  formerly  remarked,  in  th© 
appearance,  as  there  is  in  the  treatment  of  those  do-t 
mestics  who  are  nourished  in  the  families,  and  pursue 
their  light  occupation  almost  constantly  in  the  pre- 
sence of  their  mistresses  or  masters,  and  the  slaves 
who  are  sent  to  labor  in  the  fields  under  the  inspec- 
tion of  an  overseer.  The  latter  are  obliged  to  be 
subjected  to  a  severer  discipline,  and  to  subsist  on  a 
coarser  and  more  scanty  fare,  and  they  are  morp 
negligently  attended  during  the  period  of  infancy. 
Generally,  however,  even  these  enjoy  considerable 
privileges  which  the  prudent  and  industrious  among 
them  improve  to  the  amelioration  of  their  condition, 
and  to  add,  in  no  small  degree,  to  the  comfort  of 
their  subsistence.  Hence  the  American  negro  is 
visibly  losing  the  most  uncouth  peculiarities  of  the 
African  person,  and  physiognomy. 

Having  made  these  preliminary  observations  I  pro- 
ceed to  enter  into  a  more  particular  consideration  of 
those  distinguishing  properties  which,  according  to 
our  author,  discriminate  the  negro  of  Africa  from 
the  fair  native  of  Europe.'?^ 

*  The  folloAving  facts  and  I'easonings  may  be  applied  also  to 
estimate  at  their  just  value  those  detached  observations  C[Uote4 
in  Mr.  White's  appendix  from  professor  Soemmering's  essa^^ 
en  tiie  comparative  anatomy  of  the  negro  and  European. 


25S 

*<  The  foot  of  the  negro,  says  he,  is  much  longer, 
iDFoader,  and  flatter  than  that  of  the  European.  The 
vs  calcis,  instead  of  forming  an  arch  with  the  tarsal 
bones,  makes  with  them  nearly  a  straight  horizontal 
line." — Taking  the  second  of  these  observations  out 
of  the  technical  language  in  which  it  is  expressed, 
it  is  simply,  that  the  heel  extends  much  farther 
back  in  the  black  than  in  the  white  man. — This  is 
surely  a  very  equivocal  criterion  of  a  distinct  spe- 
cies. We  see  in  our  own  climate,  the  laboring 
poor  who  are  occupied  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
ground,  and  who  generally  pass  the  summer  season 
without  shoes,  or  with  very  loose  ones,  have  their  feet 
«iuch  longer  and  broader  than  persons  in  the  more 
polished  circles  of  society,  who  have  them  always 
confined  by  tight  shoes.  When  the  foot  is  left  en- 
tirely unconfined  to  bear  the  constant  pressure  of  the 
weight  of  the  body,  it  will  necessarily  be  much  dilat- 
ed and  extended  in  every  direction.  On  the  con- 
trary, many  of  those  slaves  who  are  raised  in  genteel 
families,  and  kept  near  the  persons  of  their  masters 
and  mistresses,  and  dressed  like  their  superiors,  ex- 
hibit comparatively  little  difference  in  this  limb  from 
the  Anglo-Americans.  I  have  now  before  me  a 
'  young  black  woman,  the  property  of  a  female  rela- 


254 

tioii  who  has  a  heel  as  well  formed  as  that  of  the  fair- 
est lady. 

The  author  proceeds  to  say, — '*  The  skull  is  nar- 
rower, both  before  and  behind,  in  the  negro  ;  and 
the  head  is  so  placed  upon  the  neck  that  the  back 
part  of  it  makes  a  much  more  obtuse  angle  with  the 
spine,  than  in  the  white  European."  He  adds,— 
*'  The  depth  of  the  lower  jaw,  between  the  teeth  and 
the  chin  is  less,  that  of  the  upper,  between  the  nose 
and  the  teeth  greater ;  the  channel  of  sound  in  the  ear 
placed  farther  back ;  the  foreteeth  are  larger,  and 
not  placed  so  perpendicularly  in  their  sockets,  pro- 
jecting more  at  their  points.  The  bones  of  the  nose 
are  less  projected  ;  the  chin,  instead  of  being  pro- 
jected, recedes ;  the  meatus  aiiditorius  is  wider, 
and  the  bony  sockets  which  contain  the  eyes  more 
capacious  ;  the  bones  of  the  leg  and  thigh  more  gib- 
bous, and  the  fore  arm  longer  than  in  the  white 
man." — Such  is  the  picture  which  Mr.  White  has 
drawn  of  the  negro  skeleton :  and  taking  for  the 
original  the  greater  part  of  those  miserable  people 
who  are  brought  as  slaves  from  the  continent  of 
Africa,  the  portrait  is  sufficiently  accurate.  But  is 
it  more  surprizing,  or  difficult  to  be  accounted  for, 
that  the  form  of  the  skeleton,  than  diat  the  muscles^ 


255 

the  complexion  or  the  expression  of  the  counter 
nance,  should  be  affected,  as  I  have  already  shewn 
that  they  may,  by  the  climate,  the  habits  of  life,  and 
the  state  of  society  in  which  any  people  exist.  But 
I  repeat,  and  I  repeat  it  with  the  most  perfect  con- 
fidence, because  the  fact  is  open  to  the  observation  of 
every  American,  that,  in  the  United  States,  the  phy- 
siognomy, and  the  whole  figure  and  personal  ap- 
pearance of  the  African  race  is  undergoing  a  favor* 
able  change.*     Among  the  males  you  frequently 


.  *  I  have  before  assigned  reasons  why  a  change  in  the  com- 
plexion is  less  speedily  to  be  expected  in  the  blacks  or  any  dis- 
coloured people,  than  in  their  features,  and  persons.  Some 
annotator  on  the  edition  of  Rees'  Cyclopaedia  now  publishing  in 
Piiiladclphia  by  Bradford,  and  others,  has  been  pleased  to  as- 
sert  that  I  have  maintained  that  the  black  complexion  of  the 
American  negroes  is  growing  sensibly  lighter.  Whatever 
may  be  the  fact,  I  have,  certainly,  made  no  such  assertion ; 
but  on  the  other  hand,  have  assigned  reasons  why  no  very  sen- 
sible effect  of  tliis  kind  should  yet  be  expected.  But,  that 
time  will  efface  the  black  complexion  in  them  I  think  very 
probable,  as  it  has  done  in  the  colony  which,  according  to  tlie 
testimony  of  Herodotus,  was  anciently  transferred  from  Egypt 
to  Colchis. — It  discovers  no  small  impropriety,  but  certainly 
not  much  philosophy,  to  pretend,  in  this  manner,  to  remark 
on  a  work  which  either  the  writer  has  not  read,  or  has  read  but 
very  superficially.  But  one  does  not  know  which  most  to 
wo.ider  at,  his  petulance,  or  his  ignorance  in  the  followiiig  re- 
mark.   «  The  question  respecting  the  mutability  of  the  com- 


256 

ifiiiect  with  men  of  straight,  active,  and  vigorous 
persons,  who  present  to  you  foreheads  as  open,  full, 
and  finely  arched  as  the  whites.  And  among  the 
females  it  is  not  uncommon  to  meet  with  good  fea* 
tures,  and  a  pleasing  expression  of  countenance. 
And  if  we  consider  beauty  of  form  in  the  mixed 
race  as  of  any  account  in  this  question,  there  arc 
not  perhaps  in  the  world  persons  of  finer  figure  and 
proportions  than  are  found  among  the  mulattos  of 
St.  Domingo  or  Jamaica. — The  nose  of  the  American 
negro,  though  not  yet  so  much  raised  as  that  of  the 
whites,  is,  in  general,  far  from  being  so  much  de- 
pressed as  that  of  the  natives  of  Africa.  The  teeth 
of  that  race  are  almost  universally  beautiful ;  and,  in 

plexion  of  man,  is  a  philosophical  one.  And  it  is  remarkable 
that  tlie  doctrine  of  entire  mutubility  on  this  subject,"  a  strange 
expression  for  a  critical  annotator,  "  is,  and  always  has  been 
advocated,  by  men  much  more  distinguished  for  their  piety, 
and  christian  zeal,  than  for  their  knowledge  of  nature." — What 
then  !  does  a  little  smattering  of  Cheirdstry  and  Medicine,  cre- 
ate a  philosopher  ?  Were  Bacon  and  BufFon,  and  Blumen- 
bach,  and  Camper,  and  a  thousand  others  among  the  most 
eminent  naturalists,  more  distinguished  for  their  christian  zialy 
than  for  their  knOvjledge  of  nature  ?  Or  has  the  young  man, 
in  his  zeal  to  throw  out  a  malignant  reflection  against  religion, 
forgotten  these  rea/ philosophers  ? — If  he  has  a  spark  remain- 
ing of  tliat  ingenuousness  which  becomes  a  philosopher,  or  a. 
scholar,  he  will  be  ashamed  of  this  anootation. 


257 

•the  cases  which  I  have  already  indicated,  and 
which  should  be  preserved  in  mind  in  all  these  re- 
marks, where  their  servitude  has  been  mild,  through 
several  races,  they  are  found  not  to  project  more  at 
the  points  than  those  of  the  handsomest  Europeans. 
In  proportion  as  the  feature  of  the  nose  rises,  the 
lips  are  becoming  less  protuberant.  And  the  dis- 
tance from  the  bottom  of  the  nose  to  the  aperture  of 
the  lips,  and  thence  to  the  middle  of  the  chin,  dif- 
fers little,  in  many  of  them,  from  the  proportions 
that  are  seen  among  the  whites.*  How  far  the  gib- 
bousness  of  the  legs  and  thighs,  which  is  so  com- 
mon to  the  natives  of  Africa,  is  to  be  ascribed 
to  climate,  I  will  not  venture  to  pronounce  :  but  I 
am  inclined  rather  to  attribute  it  to  neglect  of  their 
children  during  the  period  of  infancy.!     The  cli- 

*  See  the  proportions  taken  from  young  blacks,  p.  26 1 — 263, 

t  From  the  same  cause  many  crooked  and  deformed  perj' 
sons  are  seen  in  most  of  tlie  great  manufacturing  towns  in  Eng-- 
land ;  and  indeed  wherever  the  necessities  of  the  poor  press 
upon  them  so  constantly  that  they  have  not  leisure  to  pay  those 
attentions  to  their  children  which  are  requisite  to  improve  the 
beauty  of  their  form,  or  even  to  preserve  them  fio;nmaiiy 
hurtful  accidents.  From  a  directly  opposite  cause,  the  facility 
Avith  which  the  poor  procure  subsistence  in  the  United  States, 
and  the  leisure  Avhich  they  consequently  enjoy  for  all  these  de- 
ll H 


258 

mate  of  Africa  requires  less  attention  to  them  for 
their  preservation  and  safety,  than  the  more  rigorous 
climates  of  the  North.  And  a  savage  and  barbarous 
people  not  feeling  the  same  solicitude  for  personal 
beauty  which  is  felt  in  polished  society,  they  per- 
ceive few  motives,  derived  from  this  source,  to  de- 
part from  the  natural  indolence  of  savagism  m  the 
care  of  their  children.  These  children,  left  during^ 
a  great  portion  of  the  day,  on  the  ground  at  the 
doors  of  their  huts,  to  their  own  struggles  and  ef- 
forts, at  that  period  of  life  when  they  are  first  begin- 
ning to  move  from  place  to  place,  will  fnq  icnt- 
ly  distort  their  limbs  by  accidents,  or  by  wrong  and 
violent  positions.  But  without  taking  these  acciden- 
tal ills  into  the  account,  the  common  way  of  moving' 
at  that  age  being  on  their  hands  and  feet,  much 
stress  is  necessarily  laid  on  the  legs  and  thighs. 
And  this  not  being  in  a  perpendicular  direction,  as 
on  the  arms,  but  in  an  oblique  and  inclining  position, 
will  naturally  tend,  at  an  age  in  which  the  bones  are 
in  a  soft,   and  almost  cartilaginous  state,  to  give  a 


mestic,  and  parental  cares,  a  deformed  child  is  rarely  seen  in  our 
country.— Indolence  produces  in  Africa  tlie  sume  effect,  which 
the  pressure  of  too  much  labor  does  in  many  paits  of  Euiope. 
—See  this  subject  more  pia'ticuiarly  treated  in  the  esiiay,  pi 
139—144. 


259 

gibbous  form  to  these  limbs.  I  am  the  more  iii" 
cliiied  to  ascribe  the  eflfect  to  this  cause  for  a  reason 
tliat  will  be  very  obvious  to  a  planter  in  the  southern 
states  of  America,  who  has  daily  opportunities  of 
observing  the  great  difference  in  the  figure  of  the 
legs  and  thighs  that  subsists  between  his  field,  and 
his  domestic,  slaves.  Among  the  former,  in  whose 
quarters  the  necessities  of  their  state  concur  with 
the  mildness  of  the  climate,  and  the  natural  indo- 
knce  of  slavery,  to  produce  great  negligence,  and 
inattention  in  the  nursing  and  management  of  their 
children,  the  gibbous  form  of  these  members  is 
almost  as  common  as  among  their  African  ances- 
tors. Among  the  latter,  on  the  other  hand,  who  are 
carefully  nursed,  you  generally  find  much  straighter 
persons,  and,  frequently,  persons  which  would  be 
esteemed  handsome  in  any  nation.  In  the  northern 
states,  the  gibbousness  of  the  leg  in  the  blacks  is 
disappearing  more  speedily.  In  Princeton,  and  its 
vicinity  1  daily  see  persons  of  the  Afiican  race 
whose  limbs  are  as  handsomely  formed  as  those  of 
the  inferior  and  laboring  classes,  either  of  Euro- 
peans, or  Anglo-Americans. 

To  this  gibbous  deformity  in  the  legs,  is  to  be 
scribed  also  the  next  defect   mentioned  by  Mr. 


260 

White,  the  too  great  elevation  of  the  calves,  or,  as, 
he  more  technically  speaks,  of  the  gastrocnemii  tnus- 
cles.  And  we  perceive,  in  this  country,  that  the 
one  defect  is  diminished  in  proportion  as  the  other  is 
corrected. — To  the  mitoward  structure  of  their  limbs, 
this  author  attributes  a  peculiar  awkwai'dness  in 
their  gait,  which  he  reckons  likewise  among  their 
characteristic  and  specific  distinctions.- — I  agree 
with  him  that  this  awkwardness,  and  apparent  labor 
in  walking,  arises  in  part  from  their  figure  which  is 
unfavorable  to  ease  and  grace  of  movement.  But 
it  is,  perhaps  not  less  to  be  imputed  to  their  occupa- 
tions, and  to  the  total  want  of  example,  and  of  care 
to  form  their  habits  in  childhood.  How  com- 
monly do  we  see  the  ploughman  display  the  habits 
of  tlie  ploughed  field  in  his  ordinary  gait.  Black 
domestics  among  us,  in  general,  walk  with  us  much 
propriety  as  our  white  servants,  and  black  chamber 
maids,  in  particular,  imitate  with  great  address,  the 
genteel  air  and  manner  of  their  mistresses. 

Another  criterion  by  which  Mr.  White  would 
mark  the  distinction  of  race  between  the  African 
and  European  consists  in  the  length  of  the  fore  arm, 
which  is  said  to  be  greater  in  the  former  than  in  the 
latter.— He  could  not,  perhaps,  have  pitched  upoa 


261 

a  criterion  more  uncertain  than  the  proportion  which 
this  member  bears  to  others  in  the  corporeal  system, 
and  to  the  height  of  the  whole  person.  The  admea- 
surements which  he  acknowledges,  and  which  were 
made  by  himself,  or  his  friends,  difter  so  consider- 
ably from  one  another  in  their  proportions,  as  to  be 
sufficient,  one  would  think,  to  have  weakened  liis 
confidence  in  his  own  rule-  Let  us  take  the  mea- 
sures exhibited  by  him  in  his  discourses,  stating  the 
height  of  the  person  in  one  column,  and  the  length 
of  the  ulna  in  another. 


Height  of 
person. 

Length  of 
vihia. 

Feet 

.  Inches. 

Inches^ 

The  first  is  of  a  female  mea- 

sured by  Mr.  White, 

5 

8  1-2 

10 

The  second  of  a  man  by 

Mr.  Ward, 

5 

8 

5  7-8 

The  third  a  female  by  Mr. 

Crozier, 

5 

3  1-8 

10 

The  fourth  a  male  by  Mr. 

Foxley, 

5 

1  3-4 

10 

The  statue  of  the  Venus  de 

Medicis,  framed  according  to 

th6  standard  of  perfect  beauty 

e^nceived  by  the  ancient  art  ■ 

4 

262 

Height  of        Lcngtli  of 
person.  uimu 

Feet.  Inches,      inches. 

iBts,  gives  tlie  following  pro- 
portions, 5  9  3.4 

An  European  woman  mea- 
sured by  Mr.  White,  5  8  3-4 

Another  European  woman 
by  Mr.  White,  5     4  9  3-4 

The  following  measures  I 
have  taken  of  four  young  wo- 
men in  Princeton — viz.  two 
young  ladies,  5     2  3-5        9  1-4 

•  ••  ••  ado  9    3-S 

A  young  black  woman  in 
my  family,  4     9  1-4        9  1-10 

Another  young  black   wo- 
man, 5     3  10  2-10 
a  proportion  not  very  different 
from   that   of  the  Venus   de 
Medicis. 

This  young  womaii  was  perfectly  black  and  re- 
moved by  at  least  three,  and  probably  four  descents 
from  her  African  ancestors.* 

*  Other  proportions  of  the  same  woman  will  shew  a  great 
variation  from  Mr.  White's  picture  of  an  African.     Her  foot 


263 

The  peculiar  structure  of  the  skull  of  an  African, 
as  delineated  by  Mr.  White,  is  not  a  more  certain 
criterion  of  diversity  of  species  than  those  proper* 
ties  which  have  been  already  mentioned.  Climate, 
modes  of  living,  national  customs  and  ideas,  and 
the  degree  of  riviiization  to  which  a  people  have  ar* 


gave  9.7  inches,— -her  nose  from  its  rise  to  the  end  of  tlie  cari' 
tihge  1.8  inches,  its  ridge  was  a  right  line,  and  its  elevation  at 
the  end  of  the  cartilage  1.1  1-2  inches.  The  distance  from  th© 
termination  of  the  nose  to  the  division  of  the  lips  1 .7  inches, 
thence  to  the  middle  of  the  chin  1.2  inches  ;  from  the  middle  of 
the  chin  to  the  meatus  audilorius  6.5  inches,  from  the  cartil- 
age which  divides  the  nostrils  to  the  same  place  4.5  inches, 
from  the  meatus  of  one  ear  to  that  of  the  other,  round  the 
most  prominent  part  of  the  occiput,  removing  the  wool,  12 
inches.  A  black  man  belonging  to  one  of  my  neighbors 
[Mr.  Craig]  gives  the  following  measui-es  ; — ^liis  height  4  feet 
9  inches. —  the  length  of  his  foot  10  inches, — ^the  length  of 
his  nose  from  its  rise  to  the  end  of  the  cartilage  19-10  inches,— 
its  ridge  is  also  a  right  line,  its  elevation  1  inch ; — ^from  the 
end  of  the  nose  to  the  division  of  the  lips  I  inch, — thence  to  th© 
middle  of  the  chin  16-10  niches,— from  the  middle  of  tlie  chin 
to  the  meatus  auditorius  5  9-10  mches, — from  the  meatus  of 
one  ear  to  that  of  the  other  round  the  most  prominent  part  of 
tlie  occiput  15  inches, — the  length  of  the  fore  arm  9  9-10  in- 
ches— The  lips  of  the  black  girl  were  somewhat  more  protu- 
berant than  is  usuil  in  white  women  of  her  size  ;  those  of  th& 
black  man  exhibited  no  difference  in  this  respect  from  the  gene- 
ral ..ppeurance  of  the  lips  of  white  men.  I  see,  however,  a» 
much  diversity  in  the  features  of  our  American  negroes  amonjf 
lUiemseives,  as  in  those  of  tlie  whites. 


264 

rived,  all  have  an  influence  on  the  figure  of  this  bony 
substratum  of  the  head,  as  well  as  on  the  features  of 
the  countenance.  Lavatcr  says,  he  finds  not  a 
greater  difference  between  the  skulls  of  a  German 
and  an  East- Indian,  than  between  that  of  a  German 
and  a  Hollander.  And  he  observes  further,  that 
the  skull  of  a  Calmuc,  or  Nomade  Tartar  ap- 
proaches very  nearly  that  of  an  African. — Lavater, 
indeed,  without  having  accurately  considered  the 
changes  which  time,  which  civilization,  or  removal 
into  different  climates  may  produce  in  the  same 
race,  has  confidently  asked;  "  What  care  of  educa* 
lion  can  arch  the  skull  of  a  negro,  like  that  of  a  star 
conversant  astronomer  ?"  It  is  not  supposed  that 
education  alone  can  effect  it  on  a  negro  who  has  al- 
ready received  the  basis  of  his  constitution,  in  Africa. 
But,  that  time,  a  more  favorable  climate,  better  diet, 
and  habits  of  society,  may  in  a  series  of  descents 
accomplish  such  a  change,  in  the  West- India  isl- 
ands, and  the  American  states,  can  be  confirmed  by 
many  examples.  We  often  see  among  the  children  of 
Africa  both  in  insular  and  continental  America,  heads 
as  finely  arched,  and  persons  as  handsomely  formed, 
as  are  ever  seen  among  the  descendents  of  Europe- 
ans.    And  it  was  remarked  of  the  army  of  Tous- 


Q65 

aaint  in  St.  Domingo  that  many  of  his  officers  were 
not  exceeded  in  elegance  of  form,  and  nobleness  of 
aspect,  by  any  in  the  army  of  Rochambeau,  or  Le 
Clerc* 

Nearly  connected  with  the  preceeding  is  the  next 
characteristic  distinction  of  the  negro  species  which 
our  author  assigns,  founded  in  the  supposed  deficien- 
cy of  mental  talent.  For  this  fact,  real,  or  pretended, 
he  quotes  the  authority  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  notes 
on  Virginia  t  "Comparing  them  [ihe  negroes] 
says  he,  by  their  faculties  of  memory,  reason,  and 
imagination,  it  appears  to  me  that  in  memory  they  are 
equal  to  the  whites,  in  reason  much  inferior,  and  that, 
in  imagination,  they  are  dull,  tasteless,  and  anomalous. 
It  would  be  unfair,  he  adds,  to  follow  them  to  Af- 
rica for  this  investigation.  We  will  consider  them 
here  on  the  same  stage  with  the  whites.  But  it  will 
be  right  to  make  great  allowances  for  the  difference  of 
•ondition,  of  education,  of  conversation,  of  the  sphere 

*  The  critical  reviewers  are  pleased  to  insinuate  tliat  thfr 
fine  persons  of  many  of  the  West-India  blacks  arise  from 
a  mixture  of  white  blood.  There  are  undoubtedly,  in  the  isl- 
ands, mulattos  and  other  mixtures  of  blood  in  different  de- 
grees. But  the  observation  in  the  text  is  applicable  to  men 
and  women  who  have  a  clear,  undoubted  African  descent. 

t  Page  232. 

I  I 


266 

in  which  they  more.  Yet,  many  of  them  have  been 
so  situated  that  they  might  have  availed  themselves 
of  the  conversation  of  their  masters :  many  have  been 
brought  up  to  the  handicraft  arts,  and,  from  that 
circumstance,  have  been  always  associated  with  the ' 
whites.  Some  have  been  liberally  educated ;  and  alt 
have  lived  in  countries  where  the  arts  and  sciences 
have  been  cultivated  to  a  considerable  degree,  and 
have  had  before  their  eyes  samples  of  the  best 
works  from  abroad.  Never  could  I  find  that  a 
black  had  uttered  a  thought  above  the  level  of  plain 
narration.  Misery,  he  continues,  is  often  the  pa- 
rent of  the  most  affecting  touches  in  poetry — Among 
the  blacks  is  misery  enough,  God  knows,  but  no 
poetry.  He  adds,  love  is  the  peculiar  oestrum  of 
the  poet.  Their  love  is  ardent,  but  it  kindles  the 
senses  only,  not  the  imagination.  Religion,  indeed, 
has  produced  a  Phillis  Whately ;  but  it  could  not 
produce  a  poet.  Ignatius  Sancho  has  approached 
nearer  to  merit  in  composition ;  yet  his  letters  dO' 
more  honor  to  the  heart,  than  to  the  head.  He  is 
often  happy  in  the  turn  of  his  compliments,  and  his 
stile  is  easy  and  familiar.  But  his  imagination  is 
wuld  and  extravagant ;  escapes  incessantly  from 
every  restraint    of  reason  and   taste,    and,    in  the 


267 

course  of  its  vagaries  leaves  a  tract  of  thought  as  hi* 
coherent  and  eccentric  as  is  the  course  of  a  meteor 
through  the  sky." — After  this,  Mr.  Jtfferson  con- 
trasts the  enslaved  Africans  in  the  United  States, 
with  the  Roman  slaves,  in  order  to  shew  the  vast 
inferiority  of  the  former  in  all  the  exercises  of  the 
mental  powers. 

These  remarks  upon  the  genius  of  the  African 
negro  appear  to  me  to  have  so  little  foundation  in 
true  philosophy  that  few  observations  will  be  neces- 
sary to  refute  them.* 

If  the  principle  maintained  by  Lavater,  and  by 
St.  Gall,  that  the  form  of  the  skull  is  indicative  of 
the  peculiar  talents,  and  even  of  the  inclinations  and 
dispositions  of  men,  be  founded  in  nature,  will  it 


*  Mr.  Jefferson  reasons  much  better  when  he  undertakes 
to  defend  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  the  aboriginals 
of  the  American  continent,  aguinst  the  aspersions  of  Mr.  Buf- 
fon,  and  the  Abbe  Raynal,  and  generally,  of  the  European 
writers,  who  impute  to  them  gieat  debility  both  of  mental, 
and  of  bodily  powers ;  because  men  ranging  the  forest  for 
game,  and  pressed  by  incessant  wants  ;  or",  on  the  other  hand, 
occupied  in  perpetual  labors  in  clearing  and  bringing  into  a 
state  of  cultivation  the  soil  of  a  new  world,  have  not  produced 
such  poets  as  Homer  or  Pope,  such  philosophers  as  Aristo- 
tle, or  Locke,  or  such  orators  as  Demosthenes  or  Chatham.—- 
See  his  answer  to  6th  query,  towards  the  end,  in  his  notes  opt 
Virginia. 


268 

not  result,  as  a  necessary  conseqiicnccj  that  if  the  cli* 
mate,  the  mode  qf  living,  or  the  state  of  society,  or 
even  accidental  causes  in  early  life,  contribute  to 
vary  the  shape  of  that  bony  case  which  encompas- 
ses the  brain,  thereby  pressing  upon  it  in  some 
points,  and  giving  it  scope  in  others  ;  in  some  of  its 
cells  contracting  this  soft  substance,  and  giving  it  a 
freer  expansion  in  others,  these  causes  must,  in  the 
same  degree,  assist,  impede,  or  vary  the  operations 
of  the  mind,  and  affect  the  character  of  the  national 
genius,  or  of  the  genius  of  a  whole  race  of  men 
placed  in  a  particular  climate,  or  existing  in  a  par- 
ticular state  of  society.* 

That  the  causes  which  have  been  just  suggested, 
may  have  some  effect  in  hebetating  the  mental  facul- 
ties of  the  wretched  savages  of  Africa,  I  am  not  pre. 
pared  either  to  deny  or  affirm.  I  am  inclined,  how- 
ever, to  ascribe  the  apparent  dullness  of  the  negro 
principally  to  the  wretched  state  of  his  existence 
first  in  his  original  country,  where  he  is  at  once  a 
poor  and  abject  savage,  and  subjected  to  an  atrocious 
despotism ;  and  afterwards  in  those  regions  to. 
which  he  is  transported  to  finish  his  days  in  slaverj^ 
and  toil.     Genius,  in  order  to  its  cultivation,  and 

t  Seepages  95,  96, also  153 — 156  of  tlus essay. 


the  advantageous  display  of  its  powers,  requires  free- 
dom :  it  requires  reward,  the  reward  at  least  of 
praise,  to  call  it  forth ;  competition  to  awaken  its 
'ardor ;  and  examples  both  to  direct  its  operations, 
and  to  prompt  its  emulation.  The  abject  servitude 
of  the  negro  in  America,  condemned  to  the  drudg- 
ery of  perpetual  labor,  cut  off  from  every  mean  of 
improvement,  f^  conscious  of  his  degraded  state  in  the 


^  How  few  are  the  negroes  in  America  who  enjoy  access  tp 
{he  first  elements  of  knowledge  by  being  enabled  either  to 
read,  or  write.  Mr.  Jefferson  s^ys  that  many  of  them  have 
been  placed  in  situations  in  which  they  might  have  enjoyed  the 
•society  of  their  masters.  What  society,  alas,  can  subsist  be- 
tween a  mastei',  and  a  sic.ve  ;  not  a  polite  and  learned  slave  of 
Greece,  such  ..s  was  oiten  seen  at  Rome,  but  a  wretched  and 
ignorant  African  slave  ?  Besides,  if  tliey  could  enjoy  an  in- 
tercourse much  more  free  and  intimate  than  is  possible  from 
the  nature  of  their  respective  situations,  I  ask,  what  would 
thei'e  be  in  tliat  society,  when  we  consider  the  general  charac- 
ters, occupations,  and  conversations,  of  those  masters,  fa- 
vorable to  iniprovement  in  -science,  or  the  arts ;  or  calculat- 
ed to  draw  forth,  and  cultivate  any  of  the  high  powers  of  im- 
agination taste,  or  genius  ?  The  poems  of  Piiillis  Whately,  a 
poor  African  slave,  taught  to  read  by  the  indulgent  piety  of 
her  master,  are  spoken  of  with  infinite  contempt.  But  I  will 
demand  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  or  any  other  man  who  is  acquainted 
with  American  planters,  how  many  of  those  masters  could 
have  written  poems  equal  to  those  of  Phillis  Whately  ?  And 
with  still  greater  reason  might  I  ask  the  same  question  with  re- 
gard to  the  letters  of  Ignatius  Sancho. 


270 

midst  of  freemen  who  regard  him  with  contempt, 
and  in  every  word  and  look  make  him  feel  his  inferi- 
ority; and  hopeless  of  ever  enjoying  any  great  ame- 
lioration of  his  condition,  must  condemn  him,  while 
these  circumstances  remain,  to  perpetual  sterility  of 
genius.  It  is  unfair  to  compare  the  feeble  efforts  of 
the  mind  which  we  sometimes  behold  under  slavish 
depression,  with  the  noble  ardor  which  is  often 
kindled  even  in  the  wild  freedom  of  the  American 
forest. 

The  aboriginal  natives  of  America  often  exhibit, 
as  Mr.  Jefferson  justly  remaks,  some  of  the  finest 
flights  of  imagination,  and  some  of  the  boldest 
strokes  of  oratory.  But  we  perceive  these  vigorous 
efforts  of  the  soul  only  while  they  enjoy  their  rude 
independence,  and  are  employed  in  their  favorite 
exercises  of  hunting,  or  of  war,  which  give  ardor 
?lO  their  sentiments,  and  energy  to  their  character. 
Whereas,  if  you  cut  them  off  from  employments 
which,  along  with  conscious  freedom  and  indepen- 
dence, often  awaken  the  untutored  savage  to  the 
boldest  enterprizes  ;  if,  in  this  condition,  you  place 
them  in  the  midst  of  a  civilized  people  with  whom 
they  cannot  amalgamate,  and  who  only  humble 
them  by  the  continual  view  of  their  own  inferiority, 


271 

you,  at  once,  annihilate  among  them  all  the  noble 
qualities  which  you  had  admired  in  their  savage 
state  ;  and  the  negro  becomes  a  respectable  man 
compared  with  the  indian.  Of  the  truth  of  this 
remark  we  have  striking  examples  in  the  remnants 
of  a  small  tribe  in  the  state  of  New-Jersey,  now 
called  the  Brotherton  indians,  from  the  name  of 
their  village ;  in  the  remnants  of  the  Pamunkey  tribe 
in  Virginia,  situated  on  the  river  Pamunky,  on  a 
small  reservation  of  lands  secured  to  them  by  the 
government ;  in  the  indians  situated  along  the  Mis- 
sissippi in  the  vicinity  of  New- Orleans  ;  and  many 
companies  of  the  same  people  who  wander  along 
the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence  within  the  province 
of  Lower  Canada.  For  wretchedness,  laziness,  and 
the  destitution  of  almost  every  manly  quality,  they 
can  hardly  be  exceeded  by  the  most  contemptible 
tribes  of  men  in  any  quarter  of  the  globe.  They 
afford  a  proof  of  the  deterioration  of  the  mental  fa- 
culties which  may  be  produced  by  certain  states  of 
society,  which  ought  to  make  a  philosopher  cautious 
of  proscribing  any  race  of  men  from  the  class  of  hu- 
man beings,  merely  because  their  unfortunate  con- 
dition has  presented  to  them  no  incentives  to  awa* 
ken  genius,  or  afforded  no  opportunities  to  display  its 


272 

p6wers.  Judging  by  the  criterion  which  Mr.  White, 
after  Mr.  Jefferson  has  endeavoured  to  establish y 
might  not  the  Abbe  Raynal,  and  other  European 
writers  who  denounce  the  American  climate  as  unfa-*^ 
vorable  to  the  growth  of  animal  bodies,  and  the 
energies  of  the  human  intellect,  justify  their  conclu- 
sion, by  the  example  of  the  Anglo-Americans? 
Among  these  decendents  of  the  ingenious  Europe- 
ans, since  their  settlement  in  America,  have  ap- 
peared fewer  exquisite  productions  in  the  arts,  fewer 
works  of  taste,  erudition,  or  genius,  than  have 
adorned  the  kingdoms  of  Europe,  in  the  same  pe- 
riod. But  is  this  to  be  imputed  to  the  climate  ?  and 
not  rather  to  the  peculiar  labors,  and  occupations 
required  in  a  new  world,  to  draw  it  forth  from  its 
forests,  and  its  marshes,  which  have  diverted  the 
efforts  of  the  people  to  other  objects  of  more  imme- 
diate necessity  ?  But  besides  this  primary  cause  of 
deficiency  in  monuments  of  art,  and  works  of 
taste,  we  may  reckon  the  sparseness  of  our  popula- 
tion which  prevents  that  constant  collision,  and  com- 
parison of  sentiment,  which  contributes  to  strike  out 
the  fire  of  genius,  and  to  correct  its  eccentricities 
and  errors ;  the  want  of  men  of  leisure,  and  of 
wealth  either  to  cultivate  the  arts,  or  to  encourage 


273 

and  reward  theift.     But  because  we  have  produced 
no  such  poets  as  Pope,  or  Milton ;  no  such  groupes 
of  wits  as  adorned  London  or  Paris  in  the  age  of 
Anne,  and  of  Louis  the  fourteenth,  has  a  philoso- 
pher of  Europe,  in  the  pride  of  her  present  im- 
provements  in   every  department  of   literature,  a 
right  to  say,  because  one  century  has  not  yet  produc- 
ed the  fruits  of  ten,  that  the  American  like  what 
was  fabled  of  the  Beotian,  air,  has  hebetated  the 
genius  of  this  last  and  largest  quarter  of  the  globe  ? 
Whence  arose  the  difference  between  the  Athenian, 
and  the  Beotian,   or  Spartan  wit,  but   from  their 
different   states  of  society?     And  the   Anglo,    or 
Gallo- American   only  affords  another  example   of 
this  powerful  influence  in  diversifying,  in  maturing, 
or  retarding  the  operations  of  the  human  mind.    The 
period  has  not  yet  arrived  for  displaying  the  full 
powers  of  the  American  genius.     But  whoever  will 
regard  with  a  truly  philosophic  eye  the  works  which 
it  has  accomplished,  the  almost  new  creation  which 
it  has  produced,  within  the  last  century,  over  the 
face  of  an  immense  continent,  will  be  disposed  ra- 
ther to  respect  its  energy  and  enterprize  than  to  dis- 
parage it  by  an  unfair  comparison  with  the  results 
of  the  wealth  and  population  of  Europe,  and  the  ac 

K  K 


274 

•umulated  improvements  of  so  many  ages.  Many 
particular  instances  America  can  already  exhibit  of 
scientific  investigation,  of  political  eloquence,  of  mil- 
itary skill  and  heroism,  of  invention,  especially  in 
the  mechanic  arts,  and  of  execution  in  the  fine  arts', 
which  have  not  been  exceeded  in  any  country. 
And  circumstances  are  now  daily  occurring  to  caH 
forth  more  and  more  the  energies  of  the  American 
character,  and  to  display  the  vividness  and  force  of 
the  American  genius,  which  will,  in  a  short  time 
place  us  above  the  fear  of  the  contempt,  or  even 
the  rivalship  of  any  nation.  And  the  reproaches  of 
deficiency  of  talent  cast  upon  America  by  philosophers 
who  have  had  little  opportunity,  and  perhaps  less  dis- 
position to  form  an  accurate  judgment  upon  this 
subject,  will  be  doubly  retorted  upon  Europe ;  for 
she  will  then  be  in  the  period  of  her  decline,  while 
her  young  competitor  will  be  advancing  to  the  ma- 
turity of  her  powers,  and  her  glory. 

In  returning  from  this  slight  digression,  may  I 
not  be  permitted  to  ask,  if  this  criterion,  which  is 
applied  so  unfavorably  to  the  Africans,  be  just,  are 
the  modern  Greeks  of  the  same  race  with  those  re- 
publican heroes  who  expelled  the  Persians  from 
their  country ;  with  those  illustrious  scholars  among* 


275 

v/hom  Socrates  and  Plato  only  shone  in  the  first 
rank  ?  Would  it  now  be  possible  to  restore  among 
these  degraded  subjects  of  Turkish  despotism,  the 
genius  of  Demosthenes,  of  Xcnophon,  or  of  Phidias  ? 
Or  are  the  Copts,  a  people  more  dull  and  stupid  than 
the  negroes  of  Angola,  the  descendents  of  those  Egyp- 
tians who  were  once  the  masters  of  the  Greeks  them- 
selves ?  Innumerable  causes  may,  for  a  long  time, 
prevent  the  faculties  of  the  human  mind  from  arriv- 
ing at  full  maturity  in  particular  nations,  or  may  to- 
tally restrain  among  them  the  growth,  and  develop- 
ment of  the  powers  of  genius.  Among  these  causes 
slavery  will  readily  be  acknowledged  to  be  the  prin- 
cipal. The  force  of  this  objection,  which  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson anticipated  to  his  hypothesis,  he  endeavours 
to   obviate,  by    comparing   the   negroes   with   the.  H 

Greeks  who  were  held  in  slavery  at  Rome.  Bui  has 
this  philosopher  sufficiently  adverted  to  the  infinite 
difference  that  must  subsist  between  enslaved  savar 
ges,  destitute  of  the  first  elements  of  liberal  know- 
ledge, and  held  in  contempt  by  their  oppressors,  and 
an  ingenious  and  enlightened  people,  cultivated  in 
the  schools  of  philosophy,  and  praccised  in  all 
the  liberal  arts,  reduced  to  slavery  by  force  of  at  ms^ 
aiad,  even  in  slavery,  respected  by  their  masters  ? 


276 

Epictetus  was,  indeed,  a  philosopher,  Terence,  andT 
PhcEdrus  were  poets,  and  many  of  the  most  eminent 
artists  at  Rome  were  slaves  ;  but  they  were  philoso- 
phers, and  poets,  and  artists  before  they  became 
slaves ;  or  belonging  to  a  people  extolled,  and  rever-- 
ed  for  their  ingenuity  and  heroism,  they  still  possess^ 
eda  certain  elevation  of  mind,  which  rendered  them 
capable  of  acquiring  science,  of  cultivating  the  no-r 
bier  powers  of  the  soul,  and  displaying  the  beauties 
of  imagination,  and  taste,  even  in  an  enslaved  con- 
dition.* 


*  Two  or  three  other  remarks  in  Mr.  Jeffei-son's  illustra- 
tions of  the  great  defect  of  genius,  in  the  blacks  may  deserve 
some  notice.  "  Many  of  them,  says  he,  have  been  brought  up. 
to  the  handicraft  arts,  and  all  have  lived  in  countries  where  the 
arts  and  sciences  have  been  cultivated  to  a  considerable  degree, 
and  have  had  before  their  eyes  samples  of  the  best  worksfrom 
abroad." — Ihave  often  seen  these  handicraft  artists,  their  black- 
snnths,  coopers,  house  carpenters  and  others.  But,  except  in  a 
few  instances, their  whole  design  in  learning  tliesearts  was  to  do 
the  coarse  work  on  their  master's  plantations,  the  competent  skill 
for  which  they  accjulrcd  from  artists  who  were  nearly  as  coarse 
workmen  as  themselves.  And  what  is  intended  in  this  remark, 
« that  all  of  them  have  had  before  their  eyes  samples  of  the  best 
works  from  abroad,"  I  can  hardly  conceive.  Does  the  writer 
mean  statues,  pictures,  or  household  furniture  ?  I  believe 
few  of  them  have  seen  the  most  exquisite  productions  in  any  of 
these  departments  ;  and  those  who  have,  I  presume,  have  con- 
templated tliem  with  the  same  eyes  with  which  other  coach- 
men, hostlers,  and  footmen  view  tliem.     And  why  arc  these 


277 

Having  bestowed  so  much  attention  on  this  quaii; 

ty,  which  Mr.  White,  supported  by  the  authority  of 

Mr.  Jefferson,   supposes  to  constitute  an  essential 

S^distinction  between  the  negro  and  the  white  man^ 

exquisite  works  of  genius  said  to  he  from  abroad  ?  If  tlie  in- 
genious whites  have  nevei'  yet  produced  them  at  home,  why  are 
the  poor  negroes  degraded  from  their  rank  in  the  scale  of  ration- 
ality, because  their  enslaved  genius  has  not  towered  above  that 
of  their  masters  ? 

"  Misery,  continues  Mr.  Jefferson,  is  often  the  parent  of  the 
most  affeftting  touches  of  poetry.  Among  tlie  blacks  is  misery 
enough,  God  knows,  but  no  poetry."— When  misery  fulls  on 
such  men  as  Dodd,  or  Young,  who  possess  minds  toned  to  the 
finest  sensibilities,  and  adorned  with  refined  taste,  and  a  culti- 
vated imagination,  their  sorrows  will  often  wake  the  most 
affecting  strains  of  the  pensive  muse  :  but  when  have  we  seea 
the  miseries  of  Newgate  or  the  gullies  produce  a  poet  ? 

"  Love,"  he  adds,  "  is  the  peculiar  oestrum  of  the  poett 
Their  love  is  ardent,  but  it  kindles  the  senses  only,  not  the  im- 
agination." With  what  fine  tints  can  imagination  invest  the 
rags,  the  dirt,  or  the  nakedness  so  often  seen  in  a  quarter  of 
negro  labourers  ?  Besides,  to  awaken  the  exquisite  sentiments 
of  a  delicate  love,  and  to  surround  it  \vith  all  the  enchantment 
of  the  imagination,  this  passion  requires  to  be  placed  under  cer- 
tain moral  restraints  which  are  seldom  formed  in  the  coarse 
familiarity,  and  promiscuous  intercourse  permitted,  and  too 
often  encouraged  among  the  American  slaves.  Yet  have  I,  not 
unfrequently,  seen,  among  these  slaves,  the  most  delicate  and 
durable  attachments  take  place  between  the  sexes,  where  a 
good  moral  education,  united  with  the  virtuous,  and  amiable 
example  of  their  masters  and  mistresses,  have  concurred  to 
cultivate  the  heart,  and  produce  a  certain  rcserv^e  and  refine- 
ment in  their  manners 


278 

and  I  hope  obviated  the  force  of  their  remarks,  I 
shall  treat  the  other  differences  which  he  enumerates 
with  greater  brevity. 

The  skin  of  the  negro,  he  observes,  is  thicker  than 
that  of  the  European.  The  fact  is  admitted  ;  and 
the  cause  of  it  has  been  already  assigned  in  the 
essay.  It  is  a  natural  consequence  of  the  intense 
action  of  the  sun's  rays,  which,  by  their  constant 
stimulus,  tend  to  incrassate  its  substance.  The  bil- 
ious mucous,  likewise,  which  is  deposited  in  the 
celular  membrane  of  the  skin,  having  parted,  at  the 
surface,  with  the  hydrogene,  with  which  it  was 
diluted,  as  has  before  been  shewn,  becomes  more 
glutinous,  by  means  of  its  coagulated  carbonic  in- 
gredient, and  thereby  imparts  a  greater  density  to 
this  integument,  than  the  common  mucous  which 
fills  the  cells  of  the  white  skin. 

If  it  be  true,  as  Mr.  White  affirms,  in  which 
opinion  he  is  supported  by  other  naturalists,  that  the 
negro  secretes  less  by  the  kidneys  than  the  white 
man,  although  it  cannot  be  an  adequate  criterion  of 

Some  praise  Mr.  Jefferson  bestows  on  the  letters  of  Ignatius 
Sancho,  though  by  no  means  so  great  as  they  deserve,  con- 
sidering his  situation,  and  the  means  of  cultivation  which  he  en- 
joyed. Few  white  men  in  similar  circumstances  could  have 
written  so  well. 


279 

a  distinct  species,  it  may  account,  in  some  measure, 
for  the  greater  quantity  of  bile  thrown  out  to  the 
surface  of  the  body,  which  becomes  there  the  basis 
of  the  dark  hue.  It  may  be  the  cause  likewise  of 
that  pungent  and  volatile  gas,  which,  transpiring 
copiously  through  the  skin,  is  perceptible  in  the 
strong  and  offensive  odour,  which  distinguishes  the 
greater  part  of  the  African  race,  till  corrected,  as  it  is 
in  the  United  States,  by  a  more  favorable  climate,  or 
by  better  habits  of  living. 

Another  distinctive  quality  of  this  race  given  by 
this  author  is,  that  they  are  more  capable  of  enduring 
heat  than  the  Europeans. 

This  tolerance  of  heat  by  the  blacks  is  con- 
firmed by  experience  ;  and  probably  arises,  in  part, 
from  the  superior  thickness  of  the  skin,  which 
forms  a  deeper  veil  to  protect  the  vitals  from  the  in- 
tensity of  the  sun's  rays.  It  may  arise  also,  in  part, 
from  the  refrigerating  nature  of  that  mucous  with 
which  the  cells  of  the  skin  are  filled ;  or  the  more 
copious  transpiration  of  the  hydrogene  principle  in 
which  the  bile  is  floated  to  the  surface,  and  which, 
in  the  whites,  is  secreted  and  carried  off  by  the  kid- 
neys. An  insensible  evaporation,  so  abundant,  will 
necessarily  reduce  the  temperature   of  the  body. 


280 

Besides-,  the  constitution  of  the  European  being^ 
more  highly  braced  by  his  climate,  his  blood, 
when  exposed  to  an  American  or  West-India  sun, 
is  more  easily  inflamed,  and  excited  to  the  heat 
of  fever.  These  causes,  however,  of  the  diminish- 
ed  sensation  of  heat  in  the  negro,  are  not  peculiar, 
exclusively,  to  that  race.  Europeans,  introduced 
into  a  southern  climate,  if  they  do  not  fall  victims 
to  the  first  attacks  of  fever,  induced  in  consequence 
of  excessive  heat  acting  on  a  system  too  highl}'" 
toned,  commonly  suffer  from  these  fevers,  which  are 
chiefly  of  the  bilious  kind,  a  considerable  relaxation 
of  its  tension,  with  a  proportionable  discolouration  of 
the  skin.  When  the  constitution  has  been,  in  this 
manner  broken  down,  and  fitted  to  its  new  situation, 
it  is  always  found  to  become  more  tolerant  of  heat ; 
as  it  is  also  rendered  more  impatient  of  cold. 

It  is  a  fact,  likewise,  whether  it  arise  from  the 
increased  copiousness  of  insensible  perspiration,  or 
the  reduced  temperature  of  the  system,  or  from  any- 
other  cause,  that  they,  and  their  descendents,  arc 
less  liable  than  immediate  emigrants  from  Europe 
or  the  inhabitants  of  the  northern  states  of  America, 
to  certain  epidemic,  or  contagious  disorders  which 
belong  to  the  climate,  or  have  been  introduced  by 


281 

belong  to  the  climate,  or  have  been  introduced  by 
infection  from  abroad.  From  the  yellow  fever, 
which  prevailed  in  most  of  the  sea  ports  of  the  Unit- 
ed States  during  several  seasons  between  the  years 
1790,  and  1800,  the  negroes  suffered  less  than  the 
Anglo-Americans.  But  this  was  equally  true  of 
the  French  refugees  frogi  the  island  of  St.  Domingo 
whom  the  calamities  of  their  country,  at  that  period, 
had  driven,  in  great  numbers,  to  seek  an  asylum 
on  the  continent.* 

The  negroes,  says  this  writer  again,  are  more 
short-lived  than  the  whites.  From  what  data  he 
has  drawn  this  conclusion  I  know  not,  except  it 
be  from  the  excessive  mortality  in  several  of  the 
British  West- India  islands  induced  by  the  sever- 
ity of  their  servitude  :  but  as  fiir  as  our  expe- 
rience on  the  continent  can  furnish  an  inference, 
wherever  the  slaves  are  not  exhausted  by  hard 
treatment,  and  excessive  labors,  it  is  not  true.  It 
^s  known  in  all  the  southern  states,  that  the  slaves, 

*  A  species  of  the  yellow  fever  may  be  said  to  be  indigenous 
In  many  of  the  West-India  islands.  It  is  less  dangerous,  how- 
ever, to  natives  whose  constitution  has  been  assimilated  to  ;he 
climate.  But  to  strangers  either  from  Europe,  or  tlie  United 
States  of  America,  it  is  almost  certainly  fatal. 

L  L 


282 

in  that  district  between  the  sea  and  the  ifeuth  east- 
ern rup.ge  of  the  Apalachian  mountains  where  they 
have  hi'herto  been  most  numerous,  multiply  faster 
than  the  whites.  And  certainly  you  see,  in  the 
northern  states,  as  many  old  men  among  them,  in 
proportion  to  their  numbers,  as  among  their  mas- 
ters * 

Tbiis  author  is  equally  misinformed  when  he  as- 
serts that  the  mamma  of  negresses  are  longer  than 
those  of  white  women.  This  is  never  seen  except 
in  skives  who  are  old,  and  worn  down  by  continual 
labor.  And  in  them,  they  are  not  longer  than 
in  white  women  who  have  been  equally  exhausted 
by  fatigue  and  want.  Nor  are  the  black  women  in 
America,  from  \Ahatever  African  nation  they  are 
descended,  known  to  possess  that  natural  veil  of 
modi-'sty,  which,  on  the  authority  of  travellers  of 
very  dubious  veracity,  he  has  ventured  to  ascribe 
to  them.  If  ever  their  ancestors  were  distinguished 
by  those  very  strikii-g   peculiarities,    certain  it  is 

*  There  is  a  nef?;ro  man  in  the  neighborhood  of  Princeton, 
npwiads  of  a  hvn.dicd  years  of  age,  who  is  able  to  walk  several 
m'l?s  every  d  y  ;  and  there  are  not  a  few  of  the  same  race  be- 
tween seventy  uiid  ninety. 


283 

that  their  posterity  in  America  have  entirely  lost 
them.* 

Facility  of  parturition  in  black  women  is  assis:n- 
ed  as  another  criterion  of  a  distinct  species.  This 
must  certainly  have  been  a  very  inconsiderate  sug- 
gestion coming  from  an  author  so  well  acquainted 
with  the  economy  of  the  human  body.  Facility  of 
parturition  is  no  otherwise  peculiar  to  the  negro 
race,  than  as  this  operation  of  nature  is  ever  easier 
to  the  inhabitants  of  warm  than  of  cold  ciimutes ; 
and  much  easier  to  women  who  are  engaged  in  ac- 
tive, and  even  laborious  duties  than  to  those  who 
indulge  themselves  in  luxury  and  indolence,  or  who 
are  confined  chiefly  to  sedentary  occupations.  No 
women  suffer  greater  hardships  than  those  which 
are  frequently  borne  by  the  females,  of  the  aboriginal 
Americans ;  and  none  pass  through  the  labors  of 
parturition  with  less  pain  and  inconvenience.  Sel- 
dom do  they  require  any  assistance.  At  the  crit- 
ipal  hour  they  retire  apart  from  their  neighbors  and 
friends  : — they  bear  their  infant,  and  do  every  thing 
necessary  in  such  an  emergency  with  their  own 
hands.     The  women  of  the  German  emigrants  who 

*  Seep.  135,  136  of  the  essay, 


284 

have  settled  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  western  por- 
tions of  Maryland  and  Virginia  arc  known  to  be 
equally  remarkable  for  their  laborious  lives,  and  their 
easy  parturitions.  In  this  principle  likewise  we  find 
an  easy  and  natural  solution  of  a  fact  in  the  sacred  his- 
tory, which  has  been  little  understood,  and  too  often 
regarded  as  miraculous.  When  Pharaoh  reproached 
the  Egyptian  mid  wives  for  not  having  put  to  death, 
according  to  his  order,  the  children  of  the  Israelitish 
women,  they  vindicated  themselves,  because  the 
women  of  the  Hebrews  were  not  like  those  of  Egypt ; 
For^  said  they,  they  are  lively^  and  are  delivered 
ere  the  midxvives  come  in  unto  them. 

Another  error  still  more  strange  in  a  philosopher 
who  should  be   acquainted  with  human  nature  in 
all  its  various  situations,  and  particularly  with  its 
advantages,  or  defects   in   the   different   states   of 
society  in  which  it  exists,  is  this  author's  regarding 
as  proofs  of  diversity  of  species,  tenaciousness  of 
memory^  or  quickness  in  the  senses  of  hearing,  see- 
ing, and  smelling^  which^  he  says,  are  greater  in  the 
African  than  in  the  European.    Strength  of  memory, 
or  nicety  of  perception  in  any  of  the  senses,  depends 
principally  on  the  situations  in  which  men  are  plac- 
ed, requiring,   greater  frequency  in  their  exercise. 


QB5 

or  more  accurate  and  attentive  observation  of  their 
objects,  and  the  notices  they  afford.  Judging  of 
other  savages  by  the  aboriginals  of  this  continent, 
with  whose  manners  we  are  more  particularly  ac» 
quainted,  we  have  ground  to  ascribe  to  men  in  that 
state  of  society,  generally,  retentive  powers  of  mem- 
ory ;  for  having  no  other  means  of  recording  events 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  them  as  individuals,  or 
as  nations,  they  are  obliged  to  rely  solely  on  the  ex- 
tent and  force  of  this  faculty  for  the  preservation  of 
their  history,  or  for  any  knowledge  of  the  traditionary 
opinions  and  customs  of  their  ancestors.  And  it  is 
surprizing  with  what  accuracy  an  indian  chief,  tak- 
ing a  string  of  wampum  in  his  hand,  will  detail 
from  it,  by  the  force  of  memory  alone,  aided  by  a 
few  arbitrary  marks  worked  up  in  its  fabric,  all  the 
articles  of  a  long  and  intricate  treaty  entered  into 
vidi  his  nation,  while  he  perhaps  was  only  a  youth; 
and  even  of  many  treaties,  and  other  transactions, 
which  have  taken  place  an  age  before  he  was  born ; 
which  have  been  transmitted  to  him  by  the  older 
chi  fs  who  preceeded  him. 

The  wants,  necessities,  and  dangers  of  savage  life 
contribute  likewise  to  give  an  acuteness,  and  quick- 
ness  to  many  of  the  senses,  particularly  those  of  see^ 


286 

ing  and  hearing,  which  often  astonish  men  who 
have  not  been  educated  in  the  same  hard  school. 
In  pursuing  their  game,  or  perceiving  the  approach 
of  an  enemy,  they  exhibit  a  nicety  in  these  senses 
of  which  there  is  no  example  in  civilized  hfe.  As 
the  eye  ranges  through  the  forest,  it  catches  a  vari- 
ation in  the  reflections  of  the  Hght ;  as  the  ear  is  turn- 
ed on  every  side,  it  perceives  a  rustle  in  the  leaves,  a 
whisper,  a  vibration  in  the  air,  occasioned  by  the 
movement  of  an  animal,  which,  by  persons,  not  ac- 
customed to  such  a  vigilance  of  attention,  would  be 
utterly  unobserved.  They  will  track  their  game,  or 
their  enemy,  through  the  forests  where  a  European 
could  not  perceive  the  trace  of  any  foot.  In  a  night 
in  which  no  star  can  be  seen,  they  will  pursue  their 
course  through  the  woods  with  an  exactness  that 
differs  little  from  the  accurate  direction  of  the  mari- 
ner's compass.* 


*  When  tlie  leaves  fall  from  the  trees  in  autumn,  they  com- 
monly descend  with  the  back  of  the  leaf  towards  the  earth  on 
account  of  the  specific  gravity  of  the  veins  which  run  over  it- 
Any  animal,  therefore,  passing  through  the  woods,  will  neces- 
sarily disturb,  in  its  course,  the  regukr  order  in  which  those 
leaves  lie,  by  turning  many  of  them  upside  down,  which  ena- 
bles the  savage  hunter  to  follow  its  direction.  Where  th» 
leaves  have  lain  long,  and  become  in  a  great  measure  combined 


287 

Hence  appears  the  entire  inadequacy  to  the  pur- 
pose for  which  Mr.  White  adduces  them,  establish- 
ing a  criterion  of  a  distinct  species,  of  that  large 
enumeration  of  properties  wherein  he  supposes  the 
African  to  differ  from  the  European.*  They  are 
either  founded  in  error  and  misinformation,  or  are 
easily  explained  by  the  known  operation  of  the  pow- 
ers of  nature. 

Mr.  White  makes  many  ingenious  observations 
en  the  human  hair;f  but  they  will  not  be  found  to 
contradict  the  principles,  or  reasoning  of  the  essay. 
I  do  not  assume  the  aridity  of  the  African  climate  as 
the  sole,  or  even  the  principal  cause  of  the  woolly 
appearance,  and  close  nap  of  the  hair  of  the  natives. 
The  whole  state  of  this  excrescence  depends  much 

with  the  soil,  the  stirface,  which  has  seldom  been  trodden  by 
the  foot  of  man  or  beast  is  soft  and  spongy  enough  to  receive 
an  impression  which  is  quickly  perceived  by  an  eye  accustom- 
ed to  search  for  it.  In  a  dark  night  these  savages,  destitute  of 
every  art  for  marking  out  the  quarters  of  the  heavens,  direct 
their  course  by  feeling  the  bark  of  the  trees  which  is  always 
roughest  towards  that  quarter  from  which  their  severest  colds, 
and  most  frequent  stoiTiis  arise. 

*  Pages  84th  and  85th  of  his  work. 

t  Pages  srth — 98th  of  his  discourses. 


290 

bach,*  and  other  respectable  chymists,  bile  contains 
a  greater  quantity  of  carbon,  or  black  colouring 
matter,  than  any  other  secretion  of  the  human  body, 
except  oil.  When,  in  the  course  of  circulation, 
therefore,  it  arrives  at  the  surface  of  the  body,  dilut- 
ed as  it  must  be  with  a  laxge  proportion  of  hydro- 
gene,  the  hydrogene,  uniting  more  readily  than  the 
carbon  with  the  oxygene  of  the  atmosphere,  escapes 
sooner  by  perspiration.  The  carbon  consequently, 
is  deposited  more  copiously ;  and,  being  deprived 
of  its  dilutent  principle,  it  settles  in  a  more  viscid,  and 
fixed  state,  in  the  rete  mucosum,  and  there  forms 
the  basis  of  the  black  complexion. 

Having  made  these  few  observations  on  Mr. 
White's  chapter  on  the  colour  and  complexion  of 
man,  I  shall,  in  other  things,  let  the  essay  speak  for 
itself  in  those  points  in  which  that  author  questions 
the  solidity  of  its  principles,  only  correcting  one 
error  in  his  facts  into  which  he  has  been  misled  by 
some  careless  writer,  or  ignorant  traveller.  He  as- 
sertsf  that  "  the  aboriginal  Americans,  both  in  the 
torrid,  and  temperate  zones  are  of  a  uniform,  red 

*  Page  52nd of  the  essay. 

t  Page  106th  of  his  discourses. 


291 

topper  colour,  except  near  the  northern  extremity  of 
the  continent,  where  they  are  of  a  very  deep  brown 
inclining  to  black,  because  they  have  probably  trav- 
elled thither  from  the  northern  parts  of  Europe."— 
It  is  true,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  natives  of 
some  regions,  of  Brazil  and  Amazonia,  are  nearly 
as  black  as  those  of  tropical  India,  The  extremes 
of  heat  and  cold  are  found,  as  I  have  before  remark- 
ed, to  resemble  one  another  in  their  effects  upon  the 
colour  of  the  human  skin.  And  in  the  tropical  and 
arctic  regions  both  of  Asia,  and  America  the  com- 
plexion  is  black,  though  of  a  lighter  shade  in  the 
latter  continent  than  in  the  former.  If  we  do  not 
find  white  men  in  the  temperate  latitudes  of  North- 
America,  I  have,  in  the  essay,  assigned,  at  least, 
probable  reasons  for  this  phenomenon  ;  existing,  in 
part,  in  the  extreme  savagism  of  the  natives,*  which 
exposes  them,  without  the  smallest  protection,  to  the 
full  influence  of  the  sun  and  atmosphere,  augmented 

*  If  the  ancient  Gauls  and  Britons  were  comparatively  a 
fair  people,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  their  state  of  society 
was  far  advanced  in  improvement  above  tliat  of  the  aboriginal 
savages  of  America.  Their  origin  likewise  they  derived,  more 
nearly  or  remotely  from  tlie  fair  inhabitants  of  Middle-Europe, 
H.Rd  Uie  vicinity  of  tlie  Euxine  and  Caspian  seas. 


290 

bach,*  and  other  respectable  chymists,  bile  contains 
a  greater  quantity  of  carbon,  or  black  colouring 
matter,  than  any  other  secretion  of  the  human  body, 
except  oil.  When,  in  the  course  of  circulation, 
therefore,  it  arrives  at  the  surface  of  the  body,  dilut- 
ed as  it  must  be  with  a  large  proportion  of  hydro- 
gene,  the  hydrogene,  uniting  more  readily  than  the 
carbon  with  the  oxygene  of  the  atmosphere,  escapes 
sooner  by  perspiration.  The  carbon  consequently, 
is  deposited  more  copiously ;  and,  being  deprived 
of  its  dilutent  principle,  it  settles  in  a  more  viscid,  and 
fixed  state,  in  the  rete  mucosum,  and  there  forms 
the  basis  of  the  black  complexion. 

Having  made  these  few  observations  on  Mr. 
White's  chapter  on  the  colour  and  complexion  of 
man,  I  shall,  in  other  things,  let  the  essay  speak  for 
itself  in  those  points  in  which  that  author  questions 
the  solidity  of  its  principles,  only  correcting  one 
error  in  his  facts  into  which  he  has  been  misled  by 
some  careless  writer,  or  ignorant  traveller.  He  as- 
sertsf  tliat  "  the  aboriginal  Americans,  both  in  the 
torrid,  and  temperate  zones  are  of  a  uniform,  red 

*  Pa§;e  52nd of  the  essay. 

t  Page  106th  of  his  discourses. 


291 

topper  colour,  except  near  the  northern  extremity  of 
the  continent,  where  they  are  of  a  very  deep  brown 
inclining  to  black,  because  they  have  probably  trav- 
elled thither  from  the  northern  parts  of  Europe."— 
It  is  true,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  natives  of 
some  regions,  of  Brazil  and  Amazonia,  are  nearly 
as  black  as  those  of  tropical  India.  The  extremes 
of  heat  and  cold  are  found,  as  I  have  before  remark- 
ed, to  resemble  one  another  in  their  effects  upon  the 
colour  of  the  human  skin.  And  in  the  tropical  and 
arctic  regions  both  of  Asia,  and  America  the  com- 
plexion is  biack,  though  of  a  lighter  shade  in  the 
latter  continent  than  in  the  former.  If  we  do  not 
find  white  men  in  the  temperate  latitudes  of  North- 
America,  I  have,  in  the  essay,  assigned,  at  least, 
probable  reasons  for  this  phenomenon  ;  existing,  in 
part,  in  the  extreme  savagism  of  the  natives,*  which 
exposes  them,  without  the  smallest  protection,  to  the 
full  influence  of  the  sun  and  atmosphere,  augmented 

*  If  the  ancient  Gauls  and  Britons  were  comparatively  a 
fair  people,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  their  state  of  society 
was  far  advanced  in  improvement  above  that  of  the  aboriginal 
savages  of  America.  Their  origin  likewise  they  derived,  more 
nearly  or  remotely  from  tlie  fair  inhabitants  of  Middle-Europe, 
HRd  the  vicinity  of  tlie  Euxine  and  Caspian  seas. 


292 

by  their  filthy  customs  ;  and,  in  part,  in  their  origin  ; 
having  sprung  from  the  dark  coloured  Tartar,  in- 
habiting the  North- East  of  Asia.  For  the  black,  or 
dusky  complexion,  once  contracted  by  the  ancestors 
of  a  race,  is  continued  in  their  offspring  by  a  much 
lower  ciimatical  influence,  than  was  originally  neces- 
sary to  create  it. 

I  cannot  conclude  these  remarks  without  taking 
notice  of  some  animadversions  on  this  essay  by  Dr. 
J.  A.  Smith,  professor  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery  in 
the  University  of  New- York,  delivered  in  an  intro- 
ductory lecture  to  his  class  Nov.  1808,  and  publish- 
ed in  the  New-York  Medical,  and  Philosophical 
Journal  and  Review,  Feb.  1809.  Some  petulancies 
in  the  manner  of  introducing  the  name,  and  speak- 
ing of  the  author  of  the  essay,  I  pass  over,  because 
a  merited  retort  might  lead  to  a  degree  of  asperity 
of  language  which  I  am  not  inclined  to  employ; 
and  still  more,  because  I  hope  I  may  now  appeal 
to  the  essay  itself  as  my  best  vindication. 

In  die  very  few  quotations  which  he  has  made 
from  that  work  he  has  been  neither  liberal  nor  can- 
did.  *'  Hear,"  says  he,  ''  the  manner  in  which  he," 
speaking  of  the  author  of  the  essay,  *'  explains  the 
action  of  the  climate  in  producing  this  change  of 


29S 

colour.  He  begins  with  the  following  position, 
that"  the  skin,  though  delicate,  and  easily/  susceptU 
ble  of  impression  from  external  causes,  is,  from  its 
structure,  among  the  least  mutable  parts  of  the  body. 
After  which  he  adds,  "  Wc  shall  see  the  Doctor^ 
in  a  little  time,  comparing  this  skin  to  bone.'* 
These  two  short  passages  are  the  whole  of  what  he 
has  been  pleased  to  select  as  a  specimen  of  the  rea- 
soning of  the  essay  on  the  power  of  climate  in  effect^ 
ing  a  change  of  colour  in  the  human  species.  The 
reader  will  judge  how  far  this  is  any  competent  ex- 
ample of  the  strain  of  that  work.  The  Professor 
thought  he  had  found  an  anatomical  mistake  in  the 
account  which  the  author  of  the  essay  has  given  of 
the  structure  of  the  human  skin  ;  and  he  wished  to 
enjoy  a  humble  triumph  over  the  imaginary  error. 
With  what  justice  he  indulges  this  triumph,  for 
which  he  misrepresents  the  fact,*  1  shall  presently 
shew. 


*  The  great  source  of  error,"  says  he,  "  in  the  Doctor's 
work  is  in  the  use  of  the  word  skin.  By  skin  an  anatomist 
means  the  cutis  -vera  :  but  Dr.  Smith  uses  it  in  three  differ- 
ent sense*  :  1st.  to  signify  the  rate  mucosum  ;  2ndly.  the  cutis 
vera  ;  and  lastly,  both  together."  I  presume  the  intelligent 
reader  will  find  the  skin  used  in  the  essay  in  one  sen^ie  only,  ex- 
cept in  a  single  passage,  as  the  integument  of  the  body,  but 


These  rcmai'ks  of  the  Professor,  even  if  they  were 
well  founded,  are  of  trifling  importance,  and  can 
little  affect  the  result  of  our  enquiry.  The  more 
important  principles  of  the  essay,  and  the  facts  by 
which  they  are  supported  he  hardly  notices.  He 
has  collected,  indeed,  from  Cuvier,  Hunter,  Cam. 
per,  Blumenbach,  and  others,  but  chiefly  from 
White  a  long  list  of  varieties  subsisting,  or  suppos- 
ed to  subsist  between  the  diflferent  tribes  of  man- 
kind, which  he  produces  as  unanswerable  objections 
against  the  general  conclusions  of  the  essay.  Of 
their  unanswerable  force  however,  the  reader  will 
better  jndge  after  having  examined  the  solutions 
which  are  given  of  them  in  the  work. 

But  it  is  somewhat  amusing  to  see  him  after  the 
stile  of  presumption  and  affected  science  which  he 
assumes,  and  his  pretences  to  mathematical  preci- 
sion and  accuracy  in  measuring  the  lines,  and  capa- 
cities of  the  heads  of  different  nations,  making  a  pa- 
composed  of  three  different  lamellx — ithe  cutis  vera,  the  rete 
Tiiucosum,  and  the  scarf  skin.  In  that  passage  the  scarf  skin 
was  compared  to  the  bones,  merely  in  its  destitution  of  vessels, 
and  the  little  niutation  to  which  each  is  subject.  The  fact  of 
its  wanting  vessels  is  asserted  by  Blumenbach,  p.  117,  and  by 
other  anatci»msts.  But  as  it  is  not  necessary  to  the  illustration 
of  the  subject,  it  has  been  wboUy  onutted  in  the  present  edition^- 


295 

tade  of  qnoting  authors,  as  favoring  his  opinion^, 
some  at  least  of  whom  he  cannot  have  read,  orj 
most  certainly,  has  not  understood.  If  this  seems 
a  harsh  accusation  against  the  learned  Professor,  I 
have  not  made  it  without  being  able  to  give  satis- 
factory demonstration  of  its  truth. — He  professes, 
to  adopt  the  doctrine  of  Von  Camper  concerning  the 
facial  angle^*  by  which  angle  he  attempts  to  dis» 
criminate  the  heads  of  different  nations,  and  seem* 
willing  also  to  measure  their  respective  degrees  of 
b  auty,  or  of  intellect.  This  discovery,  or  fancy 
of  Von  Camper's  he  speaks  of  in  such  a  stile  of 

*  "  This  angle,"  Professor  J.  A.  Smith  informs  us,  « iS. 
formed  by  the  intersection  of  two  lines  at,  or  parallel  to  the 
inferior  part  of  the  nostril,  one  being  drawn  from  the  most 
projecting  part  of  the  forehead  until  it  strikes  the  edge  of  the- 
incisor  teeth  of  the  upper  jaw,  the  other  from  the  inferior  part 
of  the  bony  canal  of  the  ear  until  it  meets  the  other  at  the  place 
above  mentioned." — The  reader  may  perhaps,  understand  tli© 
construction  of  the  angle  from  this  description,  but  certainly 
*  the  intersection  of  two  lines  parallel  to  the  iaferior  part  of  the 
Bostrii  is  an  unusual  language  for  an  anatomical  professor  and 
a  matiiematieian  to  tmploy.  He  then  proceeds  to  say  that  one 
of  these  lines  is  to  be  drawn  from  the  most  projecting  part  of 
the  forehead  till  it  strikes  the  edge  of  the  incisor  teeth.— He 
sViould  have  said,  according  to  the  author  from  whom  he  bor- 
rows the  idea,  the  bottom  of  that  channel  (limbum  alveolarcm} 
contahiing  the  sockets  of  those  teeth.  It  is  the  first  time,  I  be- 
Ueve,  thut  ever  this  has  been  called  the  edge  of  the  incisors. 


296 

eulogy  as  would  lead  us  to  believe  that  it  is  receiv-ft' 
ed  by  all  the  Anatomists  of  Europe  as  one  of  the 
highest  improvements  in  anatomical  and  physiog- 
nomonical  science.*  Yet,  after  extollir.g  this  dis- 
cove?'!/  in  the  highest  terms,  and  quoting  the  name  of 
Blumenbach  with  the  same  familiarity  as  that  of  Von 
Camper,  as  if  he  were  perfectly  acquainted  with  the 
writings  of  both  these  great  anatomists,  he  seems, 
not  in  the  least  aware  that  the  former  has  entirely  re- 
jected the  principle  on  which  this  facial  line  is  drawn. 
Can  it  be  because  Blumenbach's  work  is  written  in 
latin !  I  will  not  presume  such  a  disgraceful  thing. 
I  will,  therefore,  proceed  to  exhibit  my  proof,  with- 
out doubting  but  that  I  shall  be  understood.     "  At 

*  Unfortunately  for  the  accuracy  of  his  geometi'ical  language 
he  repeatedly  speaks  of  the  greater  or  less  degree  of  obtu«enesa 
in  the  facial  angle,  from  that  of  70°  which  is  the  measure  of  an 
African  face,  to  that  of  80°  or  85"  which  is  the  measure  of 
the  European. 

If  he  had  followed  his  guide  Von  Camper  throughout,  in  his 
diction,  as  well  as  the  supposed  result  of  his  experiments,  he 
v.'ould  have  taught  him  greater  precision,  at  least,  in  his  cxpre£- 
sion.  "  Pour  peu  que  Ton  considere  avec  attention  Tangle  dans 
les  quarti-e  tetes,"  says  he,  speaking  of  some  skulls  which 
were  before  him,  "  on  reconnoitra  facilcmcntqu'ils  dcviennent 
plus  co7ii,iderables"  (not  more  obtuse)  «  amesure  qu'on  elevc 
davantage  lalignc  f^tciale,  d'ou  il  resulte  que  l&filus  grand  di- 
mension" (not  the  most  obtuse)  "anra  lieu  d^.ns  les  Euro- 
pcens."— .Partie  1.  §  viii. 


^7 

tnim  vero,"  says  Blumenbach,  speaking  of  this  cele- 
brated line,"  si  quid  recte  video,  haec  regula  noii 
uno  vitio  laborare  mihi  videtur. —  l**.  Enim,  quod 
equidem  ex  iis  quas  de  varietatibus  faciei  ^entiiitise 
diximus  (fj56)  per  se  patet,  universahieecce/mt'aya- 
x:ialis  ad  summum  Hon  nisi  in  eas  generis  humaiii 
varietates  quadrat  quae  mandibularum  directione  ab 
invicem  variant,  neutiquam  vero  in  eas  quee  con- 
traria  plane  ratione  facie  potius  inlatera  diducta  iii- 
sigues  sunt. 

2.  Ssepissime  diversissimarum  gentium  craniis 
toto,  quodaiunt,  caelo  ab  invicem  discrepuntibus,una 
tamen  eadcmque  lineas  facialis  directio  esse  solet ; 
vice  versa,  pluribus  unius  ejusdemque  gentis  craniis, 
quae  in  universum  eodem  habitu  invicem  conveni- 
unt  linea  facialis  valdopere  diversa.  Parum  enim 
ex  sola  directione  faciei  in  craniis  a  latere  visis  judir 
care  licet,  nisi  simul  respectus  habeatur  latitudinis 
,€orum.  Ita  v.  c.  dum  hgec  scribo  coram  video  cra- 
niorum  bigam  iEthiopis  scil.  Congensis,  et  Sarma- 
Ue  Lithuani ;  utrisque  linea  facialis  fere  una  eadem- 
que  ;  habitus  tamen  maxime  diversus  si  angustum 
et  quasi  carinatum  iEthiopis  caput  cum  quadrate 
magis  Sarmatoe  comparaveris.    Contra  vero  alia  bina 


298 

iEthiopum  crania  ad  manus  habeo,  facial!  linea  ml- 
rum  quantum  ab  invicem  abhorrentia,  utroque  vero, 
si  a  facie  spectetur,  angusta  et  qua^  compressa  cal- 
varia,  fronte  fornicata  i^thiopicam  originem  apertc 
testante. 

3.  Denique  vero  Camperus  ipse,  in  iconibus  operi 
suo  subjunctis,  lineissuis  binis  normalibus  adeoar- 
bitrarie  et  inconstanter  usus  est,  toties  punctis  con- 
tactus  variat,  secundum  quae  lineas  istas  dirigit,  et 
a  quibus  omnis  earum  vis  et  fides  pendet,  ut  seip- 
sum  in  earum  usu  incertum  et  ambigue  hcsitantem 
tacite  profiteatur."  Blum,  de  gen.  hum.  degen.  in. 
specie.     ^  59,  60.  p.  200—203. 

How  could  the  Professor,  in  the  face  of  this  au- 
thority, introduce  to  his  class  this  all-important 
facial  line  which  is,  in  a  great  measure,  to  decide  the 
controversy  concerning  the  original,  or  factitious 
varieties  of  the  different  tribes  of  men,  as  if  it  were 
an  uncontroverted  discovery  of  the  great  Camper^ 
and  yet,  in  the  same  page,  I  believe  in  the  same 
sentence,  quote  the  name  of  Blumenbach,  without 
ever  informing  them  that  this  principle  of  Camper's 
has  not  only  been  questioned,  but  utterly  denied, 
and  shewn  to  be  inapplicable  to  every  purpose  of 
national  discrimination,  by  that  superior  anatomist, 


299 

if  he  had  ever  read,  or  understood  the  work  to  which 
he  has  the  confidence  to  refer  ? 

But  a  proof  still  more  pointed  to  this  purpose  is 
found  in  the  fourteenth  page  of  his  introductory  lec- 
ture. Having  quoted  from  the  essay  the  following 
sentences, —  1st.  ''-Anatomists  inform  us  that,  like 
the  bones,  it,"  meaning  the  skin,  "  has  few  or  no 
vessels,  and  therefore,  is  not  liable  to  those  changes 
of  augmentation,  or  diminution,  and  continual  altera- 
tion of  parts,  to  which  the  flesh,  the  blood,  and  the 
whole  vascular  system  is  subject."  2nd.  Anat- 
omists know  that  people  of  colour  have  their  skins 
tliicker  than  people  of  fair  complexion,  in  proportion 
to  the  darkness  of  the  hue," — the  Professor  pro- 
ceeds ;  "as  the  Doctor,"  meaning  the  author  of  the 
essay,  "  has  not  given  us  his  authority  for  these  two 
opinions,  and,  as  I  never  met  with  any  thing  like 
them,  I  conclude  he  quotes  from  memory,  and  is 
liable  to  be  mistaken ;  the  former  is  certainly  erro- 
neous, and,  I  believe,  the  latter." 

The  former  of  these  sentences  contains  the  only 
part  of  the  essay  in  which  the  term  skin  is  employ- 
ed where  only  the  scarf  skin,  or  epidermis  was  in- 
tended. Confining  the  expression  in  this  manner 
the  opinion  is  justified,  as  I  have  before  said,  by  the 


300 

best  anatomists.  It  is  positively  asserted  by  Dr, 
Blumenbach,  ^  42.  p.  117,  of  the  work  already 
quoted.  "  EpTdt-rmis  structura  simplicissima,  ner- 
vis,  vasisque  plane  destituta."  And,  with  regard  to 
the  opinion,  or  the  fact  stated  in  the  second,  hear  the 
same  author,  p.  118.  "Utrumque  quoque  hocce  af- 
fine  stratum  sedem  colons  integumentorum  ita  con- 
stituit,  ut  in  candidis  homiiiibus,  &c.  In  fuscis 
vero,  aut  alio  colore  infcctis,  princeps  pigmentum 
cutaneum  reticulo  Malpighiano  inhaereat  et  c\aofus*^ 
ciiis  rericulum  sit,  eo  crassius  quoque,  et  propius  ad 
membranulce  sui  generis  speciem  accedens,"  Again, 
p.  162,  speaking  of  the  smooth  and  silky,  or  shining 
appearance  of  the  skin  in  dark  coloured  nations, 
particularly  in  the  Caribaeans,  Ethiopians,  Otahei- 
teans,  and  even  the  Turks,  he  says  ;  "  In  omnibus, 
sive  a  teneriore  epidermidis,  sivc  a  crassiore  muci 
Malpighiani  stnito  pendere,  in  aprieo  est." 

What,  now,  are  we  to  think  of  Dr.  J.  A.  Smith's 
acquaintance  with  Blumenbach  ?  What  are  we  to 
think  of  his  acquaintance  vrith  his  own  profession, 
since  he  declares  he  has  never  met  with  these  tpin^ 
io.is,  nor  with  any  thing  like  them  ?^— Dr.  J.  A» 

*  He  may  find  them  in  a  great  variety  of  avithors  which  ar© 
in  the  hcOids  of  every  naturalist. 


301 

Smith,  likewise,  in  order  to  impugn  the  principles 
of  the  essay  on  the  subjects  both  of  the  cause,  and 
the  seat  of  colour,  is  pleased  to  say ;  "so  far  as  I 
know,  the  bile  does  not  tinge  the  rete  muscosum, 
but  remains  in  the  cutis.,  and  colours  that  in  the 
same  manner  that  it  does  the  opaque  cornea  of  the 
eye."  Yet  the  same  great  anatomist,  whom  I  have 
already  quoted  so  often,  calls  this  fold  of  the  skin, 
*'  sedem  colons.''^  And  further  adds,  "  utrumque 
stratum  ita  constituit  natura,  ut  princeps  pigmentum 
cutaneum  reticulo  Malpighiano  inhcereat."* 

Let  the  reader  now  judge  of  the  modesty  of  that 
gentleman  in  the  following  sentence  in  which  he  evi- 
dently alludes  to  the  author  of  the  essay.  "  Men 
who  call  themselves  philosophers,  or  who  wish 
others  to  consider  them  as  such,  too  often  suppose 
that  this  title  is  acquired,  not  by  a  thorough  acquaint- 
ance with  a  few  sciences,  but  by  a  superficial  know- 
ledge of  tlie  whole  :  hence  they  frequently  incur  the 
ridicule  of  the  world  by  writing  on  subjects  of  which 
they  are  ignorant." — -I  certainly  owe  Dr.  James 
Augustine  Smith  many  thanks  for  this  prudent  ad- 
monition, this  gentle  discipline,  which,  no  doubt, 

*  Edit.  Gottingae  apud  Vandenhoek  et  Ruprccbt,  1795. 


502 

his  superior  wisdom  well  entitles  him  to  give  to  me. — ■ 
But  on  whom  now  rests  the  ridicule  ?  Not  for  possess- 
ing even  a  superficial  knowledge  of  the  whole  circle 
of  sciences,  for  that  I  presume,  after  what  we  have 
just  seen,  he  does  not  arrogate  to  himself;  but  for 
pretending  to  such  an  extensive  acquaintance  with 
tlie  writers  on  his  own  branch,  as  it  is  evident  he 
does  not  possess. 

"  That  climate,"  he  concedes,  "  does  produce 
great  changes  on  all  animals,  no  one  will  deny. 
Thus,  if  you  transport  a  sheep  covered  with  wool 
from  England  into  Syria  the  wool  will  be  changed 
into  long  silky  kind  of  hair, — but  if  you  reconvey  it 
to  England,  it  will  recover  its  wool.  Not  so  the 
African ;  he  approximates  not  the  European  by 
changing  his  climate,  as  is  fully  evinced  on  this  con- 
tinent."— That  the  progeny  of  Africa,  have  not 
changed  their  complexion,  or  have  changed  it  but 
little,  is  true  ;  and  the  hair,  which  is,  in  a  great  de- 
gree, governed  by  the  law  of  the  complexion,  has, 
likewise,  exhibited  but  small  alteration.  The  causes 
of  these  phenomena  are  assigned  in  the  essay.  But 
it  is  no  less  true  that,  in  their  persons  and  features, 
they  have  undergone,  and  are  daily  undergoing  a 
very  obvious  revolution,    by  which   they  are  ap- 


303 

preaching  more  and  more  towards  the  European,  or 
Anglo-American  standard.  And  if  our  Professor 
has  not  perceived  it,  his  observation  must  have  been 
very  limited  and  negligent  indeed.  Even  the  cele- 
brated facial  angle,  of  which  he  makes  so  high  ac- 
count in  his  system,  has,  in  the  blacks  born  in  the 
United  States,  become  considerably  less  acute  than 
it  is  in  the  natives  of  Africa.  On  the  subject  of  the 
African  person  many  remarks  have  been  made,  and 
many  facts  adduced  in  the  essay.  I  will  here  add 
only  one  other  fact  respecting  this  angle.  I  have 
measured  it  in  several  blacks  in  Princeton  who  had 
every  indication  in  their  complexion  and  hair  of  a 
pure  African  descent,  and  have  found  it  with  as 
much  accuracy,  I  presume,  as  it  can  be  taken  in 
living  subjects,  from  73*^  to  78^.  Their  foreheads, 
at  the  same  time,  are  high,  bold,  and  open.* 

Near  the  conclusion  of  this  introductory  lecture 
he  takes  his  leave  by  saying ;  "  Were  I  to  follow 
Dr.  Smith"  (the  author  of  the  essay)  "through 
his  whole  work,  you  might  suppose  I  have  some 
enmity  to  that  gentleman."     I  think  that  not  at  all 


*  On  the  othei-  hand,  I  have  m  my  family  an  old  black  wo? 
man  with  a  true  African  forehead  narrow  and  wrinkled,  who 
gives  a  facial  angle  of  7 1 «. 


304 

improbable ;  nor  is  it  very  difficult  to  divine  the 
cause  that  has  awakened  his  displeasure.  He  hop- 
ed to  find  in  the  anatomy  of  man  an  in\  incible  ob* 
jection  against  the  identity  of  the  human  species, 
which  might  furnish  arms  to  infidelity  in  her  impo- 
tent attacks  against  the  truth  of  diviiie  revelation, 
and  he  seems  to  be  provoked  at  any  attempt  to  wrest 
the  weapons  out  of  her  hands. 

■I  cannot  close  these  observations  without  repro-- 
bating  in  the  strongest  manner,  that  disingenuous^ 
mode  of  assailing  the  holy  scriptures  which  has  be. 
come  fashionable  with  a  certain  class  of  writers, 
and  which  this  gentleman  affects  to  imitate.  They 
speak  of  them  with  oblique  and  ambiguous  respect, 
as  if  their  authority  ought,  in  all  cases,  to  command 
the  belief  of  mankind,  while,  at  the  same  time,  it 
is  suggested  that  if  we  do  believe  them,  it  must  be  in 
spite  of  nature,  and  of  the  most  certain  physical 
facts.  Thus  do  these  authors  study  to  undermine 
revealed  religion  by  hinting  that  its  friends  require 
only  implicit  faith  in  opposition  to  all  the  truth  of 
science.  This  mode  of  attack  I  cannot  regard  as 
either  fair,  or  manly.  Let  natural  science  preserve 
its  proper  place.  We  never  wish  to  abridge  its 
lawful  domain.     But  let  it  not  officiously  go  out  of 


305 

ks  own  sphere  to  assail  religion  by  this  species  oi 
wily  ambuscade.  Let  infidels  appear  in  their  true, 
form ;  if  they  seek  the  combat,  we  only  pray,  like 
Ajax,  to  see  the  enemy  in  open  day.  The  more 
profoundly  natural  science  has  been  explored,  ihe 
more  have  those  objections  to  the  sacred  writings 
been  dissipated  which  ignorance  once  thought  she 
had  found  in  the  system  of  nature.  These  puny 
and  half-learned  sciolists,  who  affect  to  treat  with 
sarcastic  leer  the  oracles  of  God,  would  do  well  to 
remember,  if  they  are  susceptible  of  advice,  or  of 
shame,  with  what  modesty  and  humility  of  heart 
those  sublime  and  genuine  sons  of  nature,  from 
Newton,  down  to  Sir  William  Jones  have  thought 
it  their  glory  to  submit  their  superior  minds  to  that 
wisdom  which  came  down  from  Heaven. 

Doubtless  the  Professor  will  be  able,  in  the 
course  of  his  lectures,  to  point  out  many  anatomical 
as  well  as  physiognomonical  varieties,  subsisting 
between  the  different  nations  and  tribes  of  men. 
But  if  he  can  find  in  the  climate,  the  modes  of  life, 
^nd  other  secondary  causes,  a  satisfactory  account  of 
the  change  in  the  facial  angle  of  a  Swede,  a  Pole,  or 
Hungarian,  and  I  might  add  other  nations  of  Europe, 

o  o 


306 

from  that  of  their  Asiatic  ancestors,  from  whom  it  is 
ascertained  beyond  reasonable  doubt,  that  they  have 
derived  their  origin ;  the  same  ingenuity,  I  presume, 
will  be  competent  to  account  for  the  remaining  dif- 
ferences which,  for  want  of  the  like  reflection,  seem, 
at  present,  to  embarrass  him. 


STRICTURES 


ON 


LORD  KAIMS'  DISCOURSE 

ON    THE 

Original  Diversity  of  Mankind. 


STRICTURES, 


ILORD  KAIMS,  in  a  preliminary  discourse  to  his 
sketches  of  the  history  of  man,   has  undertaken  to 
combat  the  principle  of  the  unity  of  the  human  spe- 
cies.    As  Mr.   White    has  proposed  to  assemble 
against  it  all  the  objections  which  can  be  derived 
from  the  science  of  Anatomy,  Lord  Kaims  has  en- 
deavoured to  collect,  and  present  to  us  in  one  united 
view,  those  which  arise  from  the  history  of  man,  and 
from  such  speculative    principles,    or  such  moral 
causes,  as  are  supposed  chiefly  to  influence  the  state 
and  condition  of  human  nature,  as  it  relates  to  the 
particular  subject  of  his  discourse.     The  reputation 
of  this  writer  stands  so  high  in  the  literary  world  as 
a  philosopher,  that  it  is  justly  to  be  presumed,  he 
has  advanced  whatever  can  be  most  plausibly  urged 
from  these  sources  against  the  opinion  which  he  op- 
poses.    If  his  objections,  therefore,  can  be  fairly  set 
aside,    or  successfully  answered,    the  refutation  of 
«such  an  antagonist  will  probably  be  regarded  as 


310 

bringing  no  inconsiderable  addition  of  strength  to 
the  preceeding  argument. 

I  hope,  then,  to  be  able  to  shew  that  with  regard 
to  many  facts  on  which  his  lordship  relies,  in  this 
disquisition,  he  has  been  egregiously  misinformed  ; 
and  that  almost  the  whole  of  his  reasoning,  even 
where  his  facts  have  been  better  ascertained,  is  in- 
conclusive, or  concludes  only  against  his  own  prin- 
ciple. 

His  dissertation  he  commences  with  a  speculative 
argument  drawn  from  his  own  ideas  of  propriety, 
and  the  wisdom  of  providence. — "Certain  it  is,"  says  . 
he,  "  that  all  men,  more  than  all  animals,  arc  not 
equally  fitted  for  every  climate.  There  were,  there- 
fore,  created  different  kinds  of  men  at  first,  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  the  climate  in  which  they  were  to 
live.  And  if  we  have  any  belief  in  providence,  it 
outcht  to  be  so  :  because  men,  in  changing  their  cli- 
mate, usually  become  sickly,  and  often  degenerate." 

The  power  of  climate  to  airect  the  figure  and 
general  appearance  of  the  per  soil.,  which  his  lord- 
ship, in  this  paragraph  acknowledges,  when  he  in- 
forms us  that,  in  consequence  of  changing  their  hab- 
itations mankind  often  degenerate,  is  the  very  prin- 
ciple on  which,  united  with  the  influence    of  diet 


311 

and  manners,  I  presume  to  account  for  the  varieties 
which  distinguish  the  different  nations  of  men  from 
one  another.  Are  not  the  blacks  of  Guinea,  the 
dwarfs  of  Siberia,  degenerate  races  compared  with 
the  inhabitants  of  France,  or  England,  of  Turkey,  or 
Persia  ?  If  these  people  had  attained,  in  their  own 
climate,  the  perfection  of  their  nature,  while  civiliz- 
ed Europeans  had,  by  being  transplanted  thither, 
degenerated  far  below  them,  or  they  had  degenerat- 
ed by  being  removed  to  Europe,  the  argument 
would  have  had  some  force.  But  since  these  people 
are  found  to  improve  in  their  appearance  and  form, 
by  being  removed  from  their  own  climate,  as  has 
before  been  shewn  with  regard  to  the  Africans  hi 
America ;  and  shice  the  greatest  degeneracy  of  the 
European,  on  his  removal  to  Africa,  or  Lapland, 
consists  only  in  a  nearer  resemblance  to  the  natives 
of  those  countries,  the  example  concludes  strongly 
against  his  lordship's  principle. 

But  "  men,"  he  says,  "  in  changing  their  climate, 
usually  become  sickly."- — In  many  instances,  they 
do.  But,  is  it  a  given  principle  that  man  is  not 
made  for  situations  in  which  he  is  liable  to  encoun- 
ter danger,  or  disease  ?  He  were  then  only  an  in- 
truder upon  this  world.     True,  it  is,  that  great  and 


312 

sudden  changes  of  climate  are  hazardous  ;  but  not 
more  hazardous  than  equally  ^reat  and  sudden  chan- 
ges in  our  habits  of  living.  This  argument,  there- 
fore, proves  only  that  such  alterations  ought  always 
to  be  made  with  due  precaution.  And  if  this  pru- 
dential conduct  be  observed  the  human  constitution 
has  been  found  capable  of  enduring  the  influence  of 
every  climate.  It  becomes,  in  time,  assimilated  to 
its  situation.  And  in  southern  regions  especially, 
the  bilious  habit,  and  the  dark  complexion,  which, 
in  many  instances,  were  originally  the  effects  of 
disease,  become,  at  length,  necessary  to  the  most 
comfortable  and  healthful  state  of  the  body. — In 
America  we  are  liable  to  disease  by  removing  in- 
cautiously from  a  northern  to  a  southern  State  and 
even  from  one  part  to  another  of  the  same  State  r  but 
shall  we  conclude  thence  that  we  are  not  of  one 
species  from  New- Hampshire  to  Georgia?  Shall 
we  conclude  that  the  top  of  every  hill,  and  the  bank 
of  every  river  are  inhabited  by  difterent  species,  be- 
cause the  latter  are  less  healthy  than  the  former  ? 
The  constitution  often  becomes  so  attempered  even 
to  an  unhealthy  region,  that  it  feels  augmented 
symptoms  of  disorder  on  returning  to  the  most  salu- 
brious air  and  water  :  but  does  this  prove  that  na- 


313 

ture  designed  that  such  men  should  never  remove, 
when  it  might  be  in  their  power,  to  a  situation  in 
which  they  could  drink  clear  water,  or  breathe  a 
pure  atmosphere  ? 

His  lordship's  second  argument  is  certainly  an  extra- 
ordinary example  of  philosophic  reasoning. — "Men, 
says  he,  must  have  been  originally  of  different 
stocks,  adapted  to  their  respective  climates,  because 
an  European  degenerates  both  in  vigor  and  colour 
on  being  removed  to  South  America,  to  Africa,  or 
to  the  East-Indies." — Would  not  true  philosophy 
have  drawn  from  this  fact  a  contrary  conclusion? 
Certainly,  if  an  European  had  not  changed  his  colour, 
with  various  other  properties  of  his  constitution,  aiS 
he  does,  that  is,  if  he  had  not  degenerated  to  a 
nearer  resemblance  to  the  natives  of  Africa,  Amer- 
ica, or  the  Indies,  it  would  have  been  a  much 
stronger  evidence  of  the  original  difference  of  the 
respective  races. 

The  degeneracy  of  the  human  constitution  often 
produced  by  change  of  climate,  he  confirms  by  the  ex- 
ample of  a  Portuguese  colony  on  the  coast  of  Congo, 
vvho,  in  a  course  of  time,  have  degenerated  so  much, 
that  they  scarce  retain  the  appearance  of  men.'- — A 
fact  more  to  the  purpose  of  the  preceeding  essay 

p  p 


514 

could  not  be  adduced.  Apply  it  to  the  case  of  the 
neighbouring  tribes  of  negroes,  and  of  Hottentots. 
Although  they  are  now  so  rude  that  scarcely  do  they 
retain  the  appearance  of  men,  does  not  his  own  ex- 
ample demonstrate  that,  in  some  remote  period, 
they  may  have  descended  from  the  same  original 
stock  with  these  degenerated  Portuguese  ? 

His  lordship  has  been  egregiously  deceived  with 
regard  to  certain  facts  on  which  he  professes  to 
ground  his  opinion  that  the  climate  of  America  is 
not  adapted  to  European  constitutions. — "  Charles- 
ton in  Carolina,  he  asserts,  is  insufferably  hot ;  be- 
cause it  has  no  sea-breeze.  Jamaica,  he  continues, 
is  a  more  temperate  climate.  But  the  inhabitants 
of  both  die  so  fast,  that,  if  continual  recruits  did  not 
arrive  from  Europe  to  supply  the  places  of  those 
that  perish,  the  countries  would  be  soon  depopulat- 
ed,"— All  these  assertions  are  equally  and  entirely 
erroneous.  And  if  a  philosopher,  and  a  lord  of 
sessions  in  Scotland,  can  betray  so  little  acquaintance 
with  a  country,  which,  from  its  long  and  intimate 
connexion  with  Great- Britain,  he  might  be  expected 
to  understand  better  than  any  other,  we  may  just- 
1}'  presume  that  he  is  still  less  informed  with  regaid 
to  the  state  of  the  Asiatic,  and  African  nations  ;  and 


515 

that  the  objections  drawn  from  them  by  him,  and 
by  inferior  writers,  against  the  doctrine  of  the  unity 
of  the  human  race,  are  still  more  weak  and  un- 
founded. 

This  distinguished  author  employs  as  another  ar- 
gument for  an  original  diversity  of  species  among 
mankind,  that  common  European  error,  that  "  the 
natives  of  America  are  destitute  of  hair  on  _fhe  chin, 
and  body." — That  philosophers,  like  other  men, 
should  sometimes  be  liable  to  be  deceived  by  false 
information  is  not  surprizing  :  but  they  are  certainly 
blameable,  after  having  found,  in  so  many  examples, 
the  egregious  mistakes  of  voyagers,  and  the  utter 
incapacity  of  many  of  them  for  accurate  observation, 
lightly  to  rest  on  such  dubious  tales,  an  argument 
against  the  most  sacred  opinions  of  mankind. 

His  lordship  says,  in  the  next  place,  that  "  the 
northern  nations,  to  protect  them  from  the  cold, 
have  more  fat  than  the  southern,"  whence  he  again 
draws  this  erroneous  inference,  that  "  these  nations 
are  of  different  races,  or  species,  adapted  by  nature 
to  their  respective  climates."  Is  it  not  evident  that 
this  fact  furnishes  ground  for  a  directly  contrary 
conclusion:  that  the  human  constitution  hath  b. en 
endued  by  the  Creator,   with  such  pliancy  as  ena- 


316 

bles  it  with  flicility  to  assume  those  habits  which 
fit  it  to  subsist  in  every  region.  His  goodness  ap* 
pears  in  forming  the  world  for  man,  and,  therefore, 
in  not  confining  him,  like  the  inferior  animals,  to  a 
bounded  range,  beyond  which  he  cannot  pass, 
either  for  the  acquisition  of  science,  or  the  con- 
venience of  subsistence.  And  both  his  benefi- 
cence, and  wisdom  are  seen  in  mingling  in  the  hu- 
man frame  such  principles  as,  under  a  prudent  direc- 
tion, always  tend  to  counteract  the  hazards  of  a  new 
situation.  Fat  contributes  to  protect  the  vitals  from 
the  dangerous  effects  of  extreme  cold.  Whence 
we  sec,  in  the  wise  arrangements  of  divine  provi- 
dence, that  animals  which  are  destined  to  run  wild 
in  the  forest,  not  only  increase  their  coat  of  hair,  or 
fur,  but  augment  their  fat,  at  the  approach  of  win-r 
ter.  But,  this  covering  being  too  warm  for  south- 
ern latitudes,  provision  has  been  happily  made  for 
throwing  it  off,  in  those  regions,  by  a  more  profuse 
perspiration.  The  physical  cause  of  this  effect 
ought  to  have  been  no  secret  to  a  philosopher  who 
treats  of  human  nature.  Not  to  mention  other  ef- 
fects of  the  relaxing  influence  of  heat,  or  the  brac- 
ing power  of  cold,  on  the  human  constitution,  and 
the  nature,  or  the  quantity  of  nourishment  it  can  rcr 


€eive  and  digest,  in  the  one  case,  or  in  the  other,  it 
is  sufficient  to  observe,  that  the  copious  perspiration, 
which  takes  place  in  southern  latitudes,  carries  oft' 
the  oily  with  the  aqueous  parts,  and,  in  consequence, 
tends  to  render  the  habit  of  body  thin  ;  but  a  frigid 
climate,  by  closing  the  pores,  and  obstructing  the 
evaporation  of  the  oils,  while  the  aqueous  fluid  more 
easily  escapes,  condenses  them  into  a  coat  of  fat, 
which  contributes  to  preserve  the  warmth  of  the  ani- 
mal system.  Experience  verifies  this  influence  of 
climate.  The  northern  tribes  M'hich  issued  from 
the  forests  of  Germany,  and  overrun  the  southern 
provinces  of  the  Roman  empire,  no  longer  retain 
their  primitive  grossness,  and  their  vast  size.  The 
human  constitution,  in  Spain,  and  in  other  countries 
to  the  South  of  Europe  is  slender  in  comparison 
with  the  German  of  Tacitus.  And  Europeans,  in 
general,  have  become  more  slender  by  emigrating 
to  the  southern  provinces  of  America.  Here  is  a 
double  experiment  made,  within  the  memory  of  his- 
tory, on  entire  nations.  The  argument,  therefore, 
which  this  writer  thought  to  derive  from  the  fatness 
of  northern,  or  the  leanness  of  southern  nations,  is 
utterly  inconclusive  for  the  purpose  for  which  he 
urges  it,  the  proof  of  an  original  difference  in  th^ 
species  of  men. 


318 

His  next  fact  is,  that  "  the  skin  of  the  negro  is 
more  cool  than  that  of  the  white,  and,  therefore, 
better  adapted  to  their  fervid  climate.  For  a  ther- 
mometer, applied  to  the  body  of  an  Afiican,  will 
not  indicate  the  same  degree  of  heat  as  when  appli- 
ed to  the  body  of  an  European." 

This  phenomenon  is  admitted,  and,  I  presume, 
sufficiently  accounted  for  in  the  essay.  It  results 
from  the  same  causes  which  contribute  to  form  the 
colour.  The  observations,  however,  on  the  tem- 
perature of  the  bodies  of  Europeans  and  Africans 
have  probably  been  taken  in  those  latitudes  in  which 
either  heat  or  cold  has  been  the  predominant  affec- 
tion of  the  atmosphere.  The  increased  temperature, 
of  the  whites  will  be  chiefly  visible  where  heat  great- 
ly prevails  :  because  the  European  constitution,  be- 
ing more  tensely  braced  than  that  of  Africa,  suffers, 
under  the  fervors  of  a  tropical  sun,  at  least  till  it  is 
broken  down,  and  assimilated  to  its  new  climate, 
the  additional  heat  of  an  habitual  fever.  When  the 
atmosphere  is  at  the  temperature  of  about  seventy  or 
sevcnt\'-five  degrees,  and  the  subjects  of  the  experi- 
ment have  been  perfectly  tranquil,  1  have  not  been 
able  to  perceive,  by  the  thermometer,  any  sensible 
difference  in  tlie  w  armth  of  two  persons,   the   one 


319 

white,  and  the  other  black.  But,  in  order  to  render 
such  an  experiment  as  accurate  as  pobsible,  the 
greatest  care  should  be  taken  that  the  subjects  of  it 
be  of  the  same  age,  the  same  sex,  the  same  degree 
of  natural  vigor,  activity,  and  health,  and,  as  far  as 
can  be  judged,  in  every  respect  equal  in  their  per- 
sonal properties. 

The  reader,  I  doubt  not,  will  readily  excuse  me 
if  I  treat  a  few  observations,  which  immediately  fol- 
low in  this  dissertation,  a  little  more  briefly. 

"  Is  it  possible,  his  lordship  asks,  to  account  for 
the  low  stature,  and  little  feet,  and  large  head  of  the 
Esquimaux  ;  or,  for  the  low  stature  and  ugly  visage 
of  the  Laplanders,  by  the  action  of  cold  ?" 

I  have  endeavoured  to  account  for  them  from  the 
action  of  cold,  in  conjunction  with  the  state  of  society. 

"  But  the  difference  of  latitude  between  the  Lap- 
landers, and  the  Norwegians,  or  Fins  is  not  suffi- 
cient, in  his  opinion,  to  account  for  the  difference 
of  features." 

This  phenomenon,  I  presume  has  been  explained. 
The  temperate  climates  border  upon  eternal  cold, 
and  civilized  on  savage  society,  in  all  those  proportions 
of  the  globe.   And  the  influences  of  these  t^vo  power- 


320 

ful  and  opposite  causes  arq  fully  adequate  to  ac«^ 
count  for  the  difference  in  the  effects. 

His  lordship  confesses  that  "  it  has  lately  been  dis- 
covered, by  the  Pere  Hel,  an  Hungarian,  that  the 
Laplanders  were  originally  Huns." 

Pere  Hel  has,  no  doubt,  given  authentic  evidence 
of  the  fact,  in  the  striking  similarity  which  exists 
between  the  elementary  principles  of  the  two  langua- 
ges, as  appears  by  the  conviction  it  has  produced- in 
this  learned  and  ingenious  writer.  But  how  shall  we 
account  for  it,  unless  it  be  from  the  prepossessions 
created  by  his  theory,  that  it  should  not  have  occur- . 
€d  to  him,  that,  from  the  same  Huns,  are  descend- 
ed, likewise,  some  of  the  fairest,  and  most  beauti- 
ful nations  of  Europe  ? 

As  an  objection  against  the  power  of  climate  to 
change  the  complexion,  he  says,  "  the  Moguls,  and 
the  southern  Chinese  are  white."  If  he  means  that 
they  are  not  black,  it  is  true.  But  if  he  means  that 
their  complexion  is,  in  any  degree,  to  be  compared  to 
the  whiteness  of  the  Europeans,  he  has  been  egre- 
giously  misinformed.  That  the  Moguls  are  less 
discoloured  than  some  other  nations  in  the  same  lati- 
tudes, is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  state  of  civilization 


f 


321 


at  which  they  had  arrived  previously  to  their  taking 
possession  of  their  present  seats.  Migrating  origin- 
ally from  a  high  temperate  latitude,  the  arts  of  civ- 
ilized life  have  enabled  them  to  preserve  their  col- 
our against  the  worst  effects  of  their  present  more 
southern  exposure. 

He  is  not  less  misinformed  when  he  says,  that 
Zaara  is  as  hot  as  Guinea,  and  Abyssinia  hotter  than 
Monomotapa :  yet,  he  adds,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
former  are  not  so  black  as  those  of  the  latter." — 
Zaara  is  not  so  hot  as  Guinea ;  nor  is  Abyssinia 
hotter  than  Monomotapa.  But  if  the  temperature 
of  these  countries  were  equal,  there  are  other  causes 
which  produce  a  wide  difference  between  the  figure 
and  complexion  of  the  nations  which  respectively 
inhabit  them.  The  Abyssinians,  who  derive  their 
origin  from  Arabia,  are  enabled,  by  their  partial 
civihzation,  to  preserve  some  resemblance  to  the 
features  of  their  ancestors.  Their  high  and  moun- 
tainous elevation,  raises  them  above  the  region  of  ex- 
treme heat  in  the  tropical  latitudes  of  Africa.  Tlie 
Monomotapans  are  evidently  descended  from  the  ne- 
groes of  the  equator.  And  their  savage  habits  have 
continued  among  that  portion  of  the  people,  who 


322 

are  not  of  Caffre  origin,  the  figure,  and  other  pecu- 
liarities of  their  ancestors,  without  great  variation. 

His  lordship  proceeds,  *'  there  are  many  instan- 
ces of  races  of  people  preserving  their  original  col- 
our in  climates  very  different  from  their  own." — 
This  can  be  true  only  of  people  who  have  made  very 
considerable  advances  in  the  progress  towards  civili- 
zation. The  pretended  fact,  however,  is  utterly  void 
of  fomidation  in  the  extent  in  which  he  affirms  it. — 
He  very  incautiously  adds,  "  And  there  is  not  a  sin- 
gle instance  to  the  contrary." — To  his  lordship, 
surely,  the  Portuguese  of  Congo  might  have  been 
that  instance. 

Another  argument  for  the  original  diversity  of  the 
races  of  men,  on  which  some  reliance  is  placed  in 
this  preliminary  discourse,  is  founded  on  the  variety 
of  disposition,  spirit,  and  genius  displayed  by  the 
different  nations  of  the  world.  But,  on  this  part  of 
the  subject,  many  of  the  author's  remarks  appear 
so  weak  as  to  be  utterly  unworthy  of  his  general 
character  as  a  philosopher,  and  a  judicious  writer. — 
Among  the  oriental  islands,  "  some  there  are,  he 
says,  whose  inhabitants  are  hostile,  others  are  hos- 
pitable to  strangers." — To  this  we  may  justly  an- 
swer, that  kindness,  or  aversion  to  strangers  de- 


S23 

pends  on  so  many  contingent  causes  that  a  mor^ 
equivocal  foundation  can  hardly  be  mentioned  on 
which  to  rest  the  argument  for  the  existence  of  dif- 
ferent species  of  men.  Nations  which  have  been 
often  exposed  to  hostile  attacks,  will  become  habit- 
ually suspicious  of  foreigners,  and  prone  to  repel 
them  from  their  shores :  those,  on  the  other  hand, 
who  have  seldom  seen  the  face  of  an  enemy,  will 
be  equally  disposed  to  receive  them  with  frankness 
and  hospitality.  On  the  same  ground  might  he  have 
demonstrated  diat  Europe,  in  the  tenth  and  in  the 
eighteenth  century  was  inhabited  by  different  species 
of  men,  from  the  facility  and  security  with  which  a 
stranger  might,  in  one  of  those  periods,  have  passed 
through  all  its  kingdoms  ;  and  the  hazards  to  which, 
in  a  similar  tour,  he  would  have  been  exposed  in 
the  other. — His  lordship  goes  on  to  coiifirm  this 
argument  by  examples  of  some  nations  "  who  are 
full  of  courage  and  prompt  to  combat;"  and  of 
others  who  hardly  know  the  arts  of  war,"  or  have 
*'  confidence  to  meet  an  enemy  in  the  field." — 
With  equal  reason  might  he  conclude  that  the 
Greeks  are  not  of  the  same  species  now  as  when  they 
gave  birth  to  such  heroes  as  Miltiades,  AgesiiivUS, 
^  Alexander.     That  die  Romans  were  not  of  the 


'      524 

same  species  under  Caesar,  when  they  conquered, 
as  under  Au:?ustulus,  when  they  lost  a  world.  And 
that,  cimontj  the  Jews,  the  Essenes,  who  were 
peaceful  hermits  who  fled  from  the  sound  of  war, 
were  not  of  the  same  species  with  the  martial  Pha* 
risces  who  resisted  Titus.  But  the  argument  is  too 
absurd  to  merit  even  this  answer. 

He  speaks  in  the  next  place,  of  "  the  cowardice 
of  the  American  indians,"  with  whose  character 
and  manners  he  is  manifestly  unacquainted,  as  form- 
ing one  feature  of  a  distinct  species.  The  proof  of 
their  cowardice  consists  entirely  in  their  mode  of 
fighting  which  is  commonly  from  behind  the  shel- 
ter of  thickets,  or  of  large  trees,  seldom  exposing 
themselves  to  an  enemy  in  the  open  field. — An 
Indian  philosoplier,  who  should  have  examined  the 
subject  with  no  more  attention  than  his  lordship  ap- 
pears to  have  done,  would  probably  retort  the 
charge  of  cowardice  on  the  Europeans  ;  because 
they  do  not  siuTc-r  torture  like  the  natives  of  Ame- 
rica. Na  iop.s  have  diiTerent  ideas  of  courage  and 
of  honor,  and  they  exert  these  principles  in  dif- 
ferent ways.  The  miiitary  education  of  an  indian 
consists  in  learning  to  make  -war  by  stealth  and  to 
endure  pain  with  fortitude.     The  reasons  of  their 


525 

eonduct  in  both,*  arise  naturally  out  of  their  state 
of  society,  the  thinness  of  their  population,  and  the 
physical  state  of  their  country.  No  people  have 
superior  courage.  They  differ  from  civilized  na- 
tions only  in  the  manner  of  exercising  it. 

Another  example  of  the  difference  of  dispositions 
in  the  various  races  of  men.  which,  in  his  lordship's 
opinion,  contributes  to  establish  his  principle,  he 
supposes  he  has  found  in  '•  the  Giagas  a  nation  of 
Africa,  who,  says  he,  bury  all  their  own  children 
as  soon  as  bo  n,  and  supply  their  places  with  others 
stolen  from  tlie  neighbouring  tribes."  1  quote  this 
passage  merely  as  one  out  of  many  examples  of  the 
credulity  of  philosophers  who  declaim  with  vehe- 
mence against  the  faith  required  by  the  gospel. 
It  might  surely  have  occurred,  even  to  his  lord- 
ship's zeal,  that  the  race  of  the  Giagas  could  not 
have  existed  above  one  generation.  Yet  these  stolen 
children  seem,  by  miracle,  to  be  constantly  trans- 
formed, for  his  lordship's  use,  into  Giagas. 

An  anecdote  of  a  similar  nature,  he  gives  us  from 
the  history  of  the  Japanese.  *'  The  Japanese,  says 
he,  differ  essentially  from  the  rest  of  mankind,  be* 
cause,  when  others  would  kill  their  enemies,  they 

*  See  Appendix. 


526 

kill  themselves  through  spite." — This  is  certainly  a 
■very  extraordinary  distinction.  And  another  not 
less  so  is,  that  "  they  never  supplicate  the  gods,  like 
other  men,  in  distress." — The  difference  is,  no 
doubt,  very  wide  between  them,  and  those  men  who 
never  supplicate  their  Maker  at  any  other  time. 
But  one  would  think  that  a  philosopher  argued  in 
this  weak  manner  with  intention  to  expose  to  ridicule 
SI  cause  which  he  only  fictitiously  espoused. 

His  lordship  indeed  acknowledges  that  these  ar- 
guments are  not  altogether  conclusive,  and  therefore, 
proceeds  to  produce  others  which  are  to  carry  with  . 
them,  1  presume,  irresistible  evidence.  1  shall  quote 
them  at  full  length,  that  I  may  diminish  nothing  of 
their  force. 

*'  But  not  to  rest,  says  he,  upon  presumptive  evi- 
dence, few  animals  are  more  affected  than  men  gen- 
erally are,  not  only  with  change  of  seasons  in  the 
same  climate,  but  with  change  of  weather  in  the  same 
season.  Can  such  a  being  be  fitted  for  all  climates 
equally  ?  Impossible.— Horses  and  horned  cattle 
sleep  on  the  bare  ground,  wet  or  dry,  without  harm ; 
and  yet,  were  not  made  for  every  climate  :  can  man 
then  be  made  for  every  climate,  who  is  so  much 
more  delicate  that  he  cannot  sleep  on  wet  ground 
without  hazard  of  some  mortal  disease?" — This  is 


3-27 

the  argument.     But  is  it  not  refuted  by  the  uniform 
experience  of  the  whole  world?    The  human  con- 
stitution is  the  most  delicate  of  all  animal  systems  : 
but  it  is  also  the  most  pliant,  and  capable  of  accom- 
modating* itself  to  the  greatest  variety  of  situations. 
The  inferior  animals  have  no  defence  against  the 
evils  of  a  new  climate  but  the  force  of  nature.     The 
arts  of  human  ingenuity  furnish  a  protection  to  man 
agaitist  the  dangers  which  surround  hivi  in  every  re-* 
gion.      Accordingly,   we  see  the  same  nation  pass 
iiito  all  the  climates  on  the  globe  ;  reside  whole  win- 
ters at  the  pole  ;   plant  colonies  beneath  the  equator; 
pursue  their  commerce  and  establish  their  factories 
in  Afjica,  Asia,  and  America.    They  can  live  equal- 
ly under  a  burning  and  a  frozen  sky,  where  many  of 
those  hardy  animals  could  not  exist.    It  is  true,  such 
great  changes  ought  not  in  general  to  be  suddenly 
hazarded,   nor  without  those  precautions  which  ex- 
perience has  shewn  to  be  useful  for  the  preservation 
of  health.     But,    when  they   are   prudently  made, 
habit  soon  accommodates  the  constitution  to  its  new 
position  ;  and  the  changes   which  the  climate  itself 
introduces  into  the  constitution  enable  it  better  to 
resist  any  dangerous  effect  of  the  influences  by  which 
they  are  produced. 


328 

.  But,  "  men  cannot  sleep  on  the  wet  ground 
without  hazard  of  some  mortal  disease." — By  men 
I  presume  his  lordship  means  Europeans,  because 
the  savages  of  America,  sleep  on  the  naked  earth 
without  hazard,  in  every  change  of  weather,  or  of 
season.  Whether  he  admits  the  American  savage 
into  the  rank  of  men  or  not,  he  concludes,  from 
this  circumstance,  that  they  are  of  a  different  species 
from  the  civilized  and  polished  people  of  Europe. 
If  he  had  visited  the  forests  of  the  new  world,  he 
would  have  found  in  this,  as  well  as  in  many  other 
instances,  how  little  he  was  acquainted  with  human 
nature  beyond  the  sphere  of  his  own  country.  He 
would  have  seen  this  argument,  on  which  he  rests 
with  so  much  confidence,  entirely  overturned.  He 
would  have  seen  Europeans,  or  the  descendents  of 
Europeans,  without  any  mixture  of  indian  blood, 
become,  by  habit,  as  capable  as  savages,  of  using 
the  naked  earth  for  their  bed,  and  of  enduring  all 
the  changes  of  an  inclement  sky.  The  Anglo-Ame- 
ricans, on  the  frontiers  of  the  United  States,  who 
acquire  their  subsistence  chiefly  by  hunting,  enter, 
with  facility,  into  all  the  customs  of  the  neighbour- 
ing savages,  and  endure  with  equal  hardiness  the 
want   of  every   convenience   of    polished   society. 


529 

And  riot  only  the  hunters,  who  have  long  been  ac- 
customed to  those  habits  of  living,  ate  able  to  lodge' 
without  injury,  on  the  damp  earth,  but  the  large 
companies  of  men,  women,  and  children,  who  are 
continually  removing  from  the  interior  parts  of  the 
United  StatcG  to  the  western  countries  for  the  sake 
of  occupying  new  lands,  encamp  every  night  in  the 
open  air.  They  sleep  on  the  bare  ground  with,  per- 
haps, only  a  few  dried  leaves  beneath  them  ;  and 
frequently  exposed  to  heavy  showers  of  rain  or 
snow.  Kindling  a  large  fife  in  the  center  of  their 
encampment,  they  sleep  round  it,  extendirg  their 
feet  towards  the  pile.  And,  while  the  feet  are  kept 
warm,  as  they  have  often  informed  me,  they  seldont 
suifer  any  serious  injury  to  their  health  from  the 
coldness  of  the  earth  or  the  vapors  of  the  atmosphere. 
"But,  the  argument  which  I  chiefly  rely  on,"  con- 
tinues his  lordship,  "  is,  that,  were  ail  men  of  one 
species,  there  never  could  have  existed,  without  a 
miracle,  different  kinds,  such  as  exist  at  present. 
Giving  allowance  for  every  supposable  variation  of 
climate,  or  of  other  causes,  what  can  follow  but 
endless  varieties  among  individuals j  as  among  tulips 
Ml  a  garden  ?     Instead  of  which  we  find  men  of  dit 

R   R 


ferent  kinds  ;  the  individuals  of  each  kind  remarka- 
b'y  uniform,  and  differing  no  less  remarkably  from 
the  individuals  of  every  other  kind.  Uniformity 
without  variation  is  the  offspring  of  nature,  never  of 
chance." 

How  often  do  philosophers  mistake  the  eagerness 
and  persuasion  of  their  own  minds,  resulting  from 
violent  attachment  to  their  theories,  for  the  genuine 
light  of  truth  and  reason  ! — The  first  part  of  this 
argument  consists  only  of  an  ardent  and  zealous  as- 
sertion, which,  as  it  rests  on  no  proof,  requires  no 
refutation. — The  second  part  contains  only  a  fine 
similitude  :  but  that  similitude,  as  far  as  it  has  any 
relation  to  the  question,  operates  directly  against  his 
principle.  *'  Giving  allowance  for  every  supposable 
X'^ariation  of  climate,  or  other  causes,  what  can  fol- 
low, he  asks,  but  endless  vaiieties  among  individ- 
uals, as  among  tulips  in  a  garden  ?" — I  answer,  that 
such  varieties  among  individuals  are  found  in  every 
climate,  in  every  region,  in  every  family.  But  dif- 
ferent climates,  as  far  as  they  possess  any  power  to 
alter  the  human  physiognomy,  must  necessarily  cre- 
ate varieties,  not  among  i?idividuals,  but  kinds.  For 
the  same  climate,  in  similar  circumstances,  operat- 
ing uniformly,  as  far  as  it  extends,  must  occasion. 


331 

a  certain  uniformity  in  the  kind^  and  operating-  dif- 
ferently from  every  other  climate,  must  render  that 
kiyid  different  in  its  appearance  from  all  others. — 
"  Uniformity,  he  continues,  is  the  offspring  of  na- 
ture, never  of  chance."  Could  his  lordship  mean  to 
insinuate,  by  this  remark,  that  the  operations  of  cli- 
mate are  the  effect  of  chance,  or  that  all  the  varieties 
produced  by  it  ai-e  not  governed  by  uniform  and 
certain  laws  ? 

He  adds,  "  There  is  another  argument  that  ap- 
pears also  to  have  weight ; — horses,  with  rtspect  to 
shape,  size,  and  spirit,  differ  widely  in  different  cli- 
mates. But  let  a  male  and  female,  of  whatever  cli- 
mate, be  carried  to  a  country  where  horses  are  in 
perfection,  their  progeny  will  improve  gradu..My, 
and  will  acquire,  in  time,  the  perfection  of  their 
kind.  Is  not  this  a  proof  that  all  horses  are  of  one 
kind?" 

His  lordship  seems  to  reason  only  against  himself. 
Is  it  not  equally  true  of  the  species  of  men,  as  of 
that  of  horses,  that  it  varies  its  appearance,  and 
many  of  its  properties,  by  every  removal  to  a  new 
climate,  and  by  every  change  which  the  state  of 
society  undergoes  ?  The  present  nations  of  Eu- 
rope are  an  example  in  the  way  of  improvement ;  tlie 


S32 

Europeans,  whom  he  acknowledges  to  have  degene- 
rated  by  being  removed  to  Africa,  Asia,  and  South- 
America,  are  an  example  in  the  contrary  progres- 
sion. Carry  the  natives  of  Africa,  or  America  to 
Europe,  and  mix  the  breed,  as  you  do  that  of 
horses,  and  they  will,  in  a  short  time,  lose  their 
dusky  hue,  and  all  the  peculiar  defects  of  their 
figure  ;  and  will  acquire,  in  the  same  number  of  de- 
scents as  horses,  or  any  other  animals,  the  high  perr 
fcction  of  form  which  is  seen  in  that  polished  country. 

No,  says  his  lordship,  "  a  mulatto  will  be  the  re- 
sult of  the  union  of  a  white,  with  a  black." — That 
is  true  in  the  first  descent,  but  not  in  the  fourth  or 
fifth,  in  which,  by  a  proper  mixture  of  races,  and  by 
the  habits  of  civilized  life,  the  dark  tinge  may  be 
entirely  effaced. 

There  resided  in  the  college  of  New- Jersey,  in  the 
years  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty  five,  six  and  seven 
a  striking  exemplification  of  the  above  remark,  in 
two  young  gentlemen  of  one  of  the  most  respectable 
families  of  the  state  of  Virginia.  They  vvere  descend- 
ed in  the  female  line  from  the  indian  emperor  Pow- 
hatan, and  were  in  the  fourth  descent  from  the  prin> 
.cess  Pqcahuntis,  a  high-spirited  and  generous  woman. 
^IthoA^gh  all  their  ancestp/s  in  Virginia  had  retain- 


333 

ed  some  characteristics,  more  or  less  obvious,  of 
their  maternal  race,  in  these  youn^  gentlemen  they 
aj^peared  to  be  entirely  obliterated.  The  hair  and 
complexion,  of  one  of  them  in  particular,  was  very 
fair,  and  the  countenance,  and  form  of  the  face,  per- 
fectly Anglo-American.  He  retained  only  the  dark 
and  vivid  eye  which  has  distinguished  the  whole 
family,  and  rendered  some  of  them  remarkably 
beautiful.  If  his  lordship's  argument,  then,  have 
any  weight,  as  he  supposes,  it  is  only  against  his 
Qwn  position. 

But  he  still  pertinaciously  repeats  the  conclusion, 
*'  That  mankind  must  have  been  originally  created 
of  different  species,  and  fitted  for  the  different  cli- 
mates in  which  thej/  were  placed,  whatever  change 
may  have  happened  in  later  times,  by  war,  or  by 
commerce." 

Let  us  ask,  why  fitted  by  a  different  organization, 
for  the  different  climates  in  xvhich  they  were  placed? 
Is  it  because  they  could  not  exist  in  other  climates  ? 
or  because  they  attain  the  greatest  perfection  of  their 
nature  only  in  their  own  ?  Both  these  reasons  are 
contradicted  by  experience.  Let  us  remember 
*'  the  changes  which  have  been  produced  by  war  and 
by  commerce."     Nations   have   been  transplanted- 


-554 

from  their  original  soil  to  other  dimes ;  and  have 
continued  to  exist,  and  to  flourish.  Foreig-ners  from 
the  most  distant  regions,  have  become  assimilated 
to  the  natives.  Instead  of  attaining,  in  their  prim- 
itive abodes,  the  highest  perfection  of  their  nature, 
they  have  improved  it  by  migrating  to  new  habita- 
tions. The  Goths,  the  Tartars,  the  Africans,  have 
greatly  ameliorated  both  their  bodily,  and  mental 
qualities  by  changing  those  skies  for  which  it  is 
said,  "  they  were  peculiarly  fitted  by  nature.'* 
They  must,  therefore,  have  defeated,  or  improved 
upon,  the  designs  of  the  Creator,  or,  at  least,  have  . 
shewn  that  the  precautions,  attributed  to  him  by  this 
author,  were  superfluous. 

Lord  Kaims  having  endeavoured  to  demonstrate, 
in  the  manner  ne  have  seen,  the  existence  of  origin 
nal  varieties  among  mankind,  proceeds  in  a  similar 
strain  of  reasoning  ; — "  There  is  a  remarkable  fact 
which  confirms  the  foregoing  conjectures ;  as  fer 
back  as  history  goes  the  earth  was  inhabited  by 
savages,  divided  into  small  tribes,  each  tribe  having 
a  language  peculiar  to  itself.  Is  it  not  natural  then, 
to  suppose  that  these  original  tribes,  were  diflbrent 
races  of  men  placed  in  proper  climates,  and  left  to 
form  their  own  language  ?     But  this  opinion  we  are- 


335 

not  permitted  to  adopt,  being  taught  a  different  les^- 
son  bv  revelation.  Though  we  cannot  doubt  of 
the  authority  of  Moses,  yet  his  account  of  the  crea- 
tion is  not  a  little  puzzling.  According  to  that  ac- 
count all  men  must  have  spoken  the  same  language, 
viz.  that  of  their  first  parents.  But  what  of  all 
seems  the  most  contradictory  to  that  account  is  the 
savage  state.  Adam,  as  Moses  informs  us,  was  en- 
dued by  his  Maker  with  an  eminent  degree  of 
knowledge,  and  he,  certainly,  must  have  been  an  ex- 
cellent preceptor  to  his  children,  and  their  progeny 
among  whom  he  lived  several  generations.  Whence 
then  the  degeneracy  of  all  men  to  the  savage  state  ? 
To  account  for  that  dismal  catastrophe  mankind 
must  have  suifered  some  terrible  convulsion.  That 
terrible  convulsion  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  history  of 
the  tower  of  Babel.  By  confounding  the  language- 
of  all  men,  and  scattering  them  abroad  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth,  they  were  rendered  savages.  And 
to  harden  them  for  their  new  habitations,  it  was 
necessary  that  they  should  be  divided  into  different 
kinds,  fitted  for  different  climates.  Without  an 
immediate  change  of  bodily  constitution,  the  build- 
ers of  Babel  could  not  possibly  have  subsisted  in 
the  burning  region  of  Guinea,  or  in  the  frozen  re^ 


336 

gidn  of  Lapland.  If  the  common  language  of  meit 
had  not  been  confounded  upon  their  attempting  the 
tower  of  Babel,  I  affirm  that  there  never  could  have 
bfen  but  one  language.  Antiquaries  constantly 
suppose  a  migrating  spirit  in  the  original  inhab- 
itants of  the  earth,  not  only  v/ithout  evidence,  but 
Contrary  to  all  probability.  Men  never  desert  their 
connexions,  nor  their  country  without  necessity* 
Feaf  of  enemies,  and  of  wild  beasts,  as  well  as  the 
attractions  of  society,  are  more  thini  sufficient  to  re-^ 
'strain  them  from  wandering ;  not  to  mention  that 
savages  are  peculiarly  fond  of  their  natal  soil." 

When  ignorance,  or  profligacy  pretends  to  sneer 
at  revelation  and  at  opinions  held  sacred  by  mankind, 
it  is  too  humble  to  provoke  resentment.  But  when 
a  philosopher  aftects  the  dishonest  task,  he  renders^ 
himself  equally  the  object  of  indignation  and  con- 
tempt. Error  and  absurdity  are  at  no  time  so  des- 
picable as  when  in  a  ridiculous  confidence  of 
shrewdness,  or  affectation  of  wit,  they  assume  airs  of 
superior  sagacity,  and  contemptuous  leer.  To 
point  out  all  the  instances  of  weakness  and  mistake 
in  this  paragraph  would  exceed  the  bounds  which  I 
have  prescribed  to  myself  in  these  strictures.  One 
important  and  obvious  error  1  shall  take  notice  o^ 


337 

and  then  shew  that  the  whole  foundation  of  this  rea- 
soning is  false,  and  indicates  even  extreme  ignorance 
of  human  nature,  as  it  exists  in  that  state  of  society 
of  which  he  speaks. 

"  Without  an  immediate  change  of  bodily  consti- 
tution, says  he,  the  builders  of  Babel  could  not  pos- 
sibly have  subsisted,  in  the  burning  region  of  Gui- 
nea, or  the  frozen  region  of  Lapland." — How,  then, 
tio  Europeans,  at  this  day,  subsist  both  in  Guinea, 
and  Lapland,  without  undergoing  this  previous  and 
miraculous  change  of  constitution  ?  Have  not  the 
nations  of  Europe  armies,  or  colonies,  or  travellers 
in  every  region  on  the  globe  ?  But  if  his  lordship  be- 
lieved that  the  intensity  of  a  frozen,  or  a  torrid  cii- 
miate  was  sufficient  to  have  destroyed  the  builders  of 
Bibel,  he  should  have  no  objection,  surely  after 
such  a  declaration,  to  admit  that  men,  from  these 
causes,  may  suffer  great  changes  in  their  complexion, 
and  figure.  Yet,  his  whole  object  is  to  combat  this 
principle.  He  allows  the  greater,  he  denies  the 
smaller  effect.  But  errors  or  contradictions  of  this 
kind,  we  often  have  occasion  to  see,  that  philoso'« 
phers,  in  their  zeal  against  an  obnoKiou.s  doctrine, 
easily  overlook. 

S    3 


n  n  tj 

I  proposed,  in  the  next  place,  to  shew  that  the 
whole  foundation  on  which  the  reasoning  in  this  par- 
agraph rests  is  false,  and  betrays  extreme  ignorance 
of  human  nature  in  that  state  of  society  of  which  the 
author  speaks. — It  rests  on  two  principles  ; — 1st. 
That  the  posterity  of  the  original  parent  of  the  race, 
or  any  part  of  them  could  never  have  become  savage, 
if  he  had  possessed  that  wisdom  and  goodness  as- 
cribed to  him  by  the  sacred  historian.  And  -2dly, 
that,  on  this  supposition,  also,  there  never  could  have 
existed  a  diversity  of  languages. — On  the  other 
hand,  hardly  any  conclusion  in  moral  science  can  be 
more  certain  than  that  the  savage  condition  of  a  large 
proportion  of  mankind  must  have  been  the  natural 
result  of  the  state  of  the  earth,  as  Moses  represents 
it  immediately  after  the  deluge, — And,  that,  out  of 
the  dispersed  state  of  its  savage  tribes,  would  neces- 
sarily arise,  in  time,  a  great  diversity  in  the  langua- 
2:es  of  men. 

I  am  not  now  going  to  explain  the  history  of  Ba- 
bel; nor  to  defend  the  miracles  recorded  in  the  sa- 
cred scriptures.  I  take  the  matter  on  his  lordship's 
ground,  who,  no  doubt,  fervently  disbelieves  all 
jniracnlous  interposition  in  this  or  in  any  other  case, 
and  shew  that,  in  the  nature  of  things,  many  tribes 


would  become  savage,  and  language  would  become 
divided  into  different  dialects. 

According  to  the  Mosaic  history,  on  the  basis  of 
which  his  lordship  reasons,  man  descended,  after  the 
deluge,  into  an  immense  wilderness,  in  which  the 
beasts  would  naturally  multiply  infinitely  faster  than 
the  human  race.  Agriculture  would,  probably,  from 
habit,  and  inclination,  form  the  employment  of 
Noah,  and  his  immediate  descendents.  And  in  this 
occupation  we  find  the  first  elements  of  civilized  so- 
ciety, which  we  can  trace,  without  interruption, 
from  the  countries  in  which  they  resided,  and  the 
period  in  which  they  lived,  diO\\n\  to  the  present 
times. — But  agriculture  is  too  laborious  an  em- 
ployment, and  requires  habits  of  life  too  regular  to 
be  agreeable  to  all  men.  Surrounded  by  forests 
filled  with  game,  many  would  be  iiiclined  to  aban- 
don the  toils  of  clearing  and  cultivating  the  ground, 
to  seek  their  provision,  and  their  pleasure,  inthe 
chace,  which  has  ever  been  a  favourite  exercise  of 
mankind.  Judging  from  what  we  observe  among 
the  savages  of  this  continent,  and  those  Anglo- 
Americans  who  reside  in  their  vicinity,  their  mode 
of  procuring  subsistence  by  hunting  tends  to  dis- 
perse them  widely  from  one  anotlicr,  and  to  di^tri. 


340 

bute  them  over  immense  tracts  of  country.  Hence 
small  independent  tribes  would  in  time  spring  up 
here  and  there  through  a  boundless  wilderness;  they 
would  forget  all  arts  but  that  of  hunting,  and  their 
mode  of  life  would  necessarily  render  them  savage. 
— His  lordship  supposes  that  there  exists  an  invin- 
cible objection  against  the  dispersion  of  the  primitive 
inliabitants  of  the  world,  and  against  the  possibility 
of  their  degenerating  into  savage  manners,  in  the  ex- 
ample and  advice  of  a  venerable  ancestor,  and  in  the 
social  disposition  of  man. — The  example  and  advice 
of  such  an  ancestor  would  doubtless  possess  great 
influence  among  that  civilized  people  which  would 
naturally  be  formed  around  the  place  of  his  imme- 
diate residence.  But  what  power  could  they  exert 
over  his  remote  descendents  who  should  live  in  a 
following  age,  or  be  ranging  the  forest  at  the  dis- 
tance of  a  thousand  leagues  ? — In  answer  to  this 
question  he  confidently  pronounces,  in  contradiction 
to  all  experience,  that  mankind  would  never  have 
separated  from  one  another,  and  from  the  pleasures 
of  that  social  intercourse  v.-hich  they  would  have  en- 
joyed with  their  families  and  friends.  Or  if  pleasure 
could  not  bind  them,  he  imagines  that  fear  would 
have  restrained  them. — "  Men,  says  he,  never  de- 


341 

sert  their  connexions,  nor  their  country  without  ne* 
cessity  :  fear  of  enemies,  and  of  wild  beasts,  as  well 
as  the  attractions  of  society,  are  more  than  sufficient 
to  restrain  them  from  wandering :  not  to  mention 
that  savages  are  peculiarly  fond  of  their  natal  soil." 

No  man  could  have  spoken  in  this  manner  who 
had  ever  been  acquainted  with  human  nature  in  its 
savage  state.  It  is  ridiculous  to  speak  of  the  fear 
of  wild  beasts  to  hunters  whose  diversion  it  is  to 
pursue  and  destroy  them.  And  not  much  less  absurd 
is  it  to  speak  of  the  attractions  of  society,  and  of 
exclusive  attachments  to  a  particular  soil  to  men 
whose  habitation  is  a  wilderness, — to  whom  migra- 
tion is  a  habit, — to  whom  every  spot  of  earth  is 
equal  where  they  can  find  game, — and  who  feel  the 
charms  of  society  infinitely  less  than  the  pleasures 
of  the  chace.  What  are  the  attractions  of  society 
to  rude  unpolished  savages  ?  Destitute  of  the 
delicacy  and  refinement  of  sentiment  which  civilized 
manners  create,  and  accustomed  to  the  taciturnity  in. 
duced  by  solitude,  they  are  little  more  than  the 
pleasure  which  dumb  animals  perceive  at  the  ap. 
proach  of  other  animals  of  the  same  species.  The 
chace,  which  is  productive  of  higher  and  €tonger 
^motions,  easily  breaks  the  feeble  ties  of  such  sociv 


342 

cty ;  and  hunters,  like  beasts  of  prey,  delight  hi 
solitudes  and  deserts. — Men,  in  such  a  state,  are 
seen  to  migrate  to  the  greatest  distances  for  the  most 
trifling  causes  :  sometimes  from  curiosity ;  some- 
times through  mere  caprice,  and  often  for  the  con- 
venience of  hunting. 

The  influence  upon  the  human  mind,  of  a  great 
extent  of  lands  lying  in  common,  and  ready  to  be 
occupied  by  the  first  comer,  is  very  visible  in  the 
effects  produced  by  a  similar  situation  on  the  inhab- 
itants of  many  parts  of  the  United  States.  Their 
fathers  came  from  Europe  with  all  those  fixed  hab- 
its, and  those  tendencies  to  local  attachments  which 
can  reasonably  be  imputed  to  any  people.  They 
took  possession  of  a  boundless  and  unappropriated 
forest,  in  which  they  might  choose  almost  at  plea- 
sure, where  to  reside :  a  circumstance  which  has  pro- 
duced a  speedy,  and  astonishing  eflfect  upon  the 
manners  of  their  descendents.  The  Anglo-Amer- 
icans discover  comparatively  little  attachment  to  a 
natal  soil.  No  hereditary  possessions,  no  objects 
of  antiquity,  seize  the  imagination,  and  identify 
themselves  with  the  endearing  idea  of  family.  The 
people  migrate  from  place  to  place,  and  often  to 
the  greatest  distances,  without  reluctance.     They 


343 

change  their  habitations,  retire  from  the  midst  of 
their  friends,  and  abandon  their  natal  soil,  often  for 
apparently  small  conveniences.  Near  the  sea  coast, 
indeed,  and  in  our  oldest  towns,  the  long  residence 
of  families  is  beginning  to  produce  its  natural  effect 
upon  the  mind,  a  greater  attachment  to  ancestral 
seats  ;  but  passing  westward,  as  the  settlements  be- 
come more  recent,  these  attachments  are  seen  to  be 
more  feeble,  till,  at  last,  as  we  approach  the  vicin- 
ity of  the  Indian  tribes,  they  are  next  to  nothing ; 
and  similarity  of  situation,  begets  a  great  approxi- 
mation of  manners  between  the  posterity  of  Euro- 
peans, and  the  aboriginal  savages  of  the  country, 
If  his  lordship  had  seen  America,  he  might  have, 
seen  men  forever  migrating  from  the  midst  of  soci- 
ety to  uncultivated  deserts  ;  and,  as  society  gradual- 
ly advances  upon  them  from  the  sea- coast,  he  might 
have  seen  them  again  retiring  before  it  still  fcirther 
into  the  depths  of  the  wilderness ;  he  might  have 
seen  men  decline  the  labours  of  agriculture  as  a  toil, 
and  prefer  the  fatigues,  with  the  precariousness  of 
hunting  to  all  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the 
arts ;  he  might  have  seen  that  mankind  often  find 
eharms  in  the  indolence  and  independence  of  the- 
savage  state,  superior  to  the  attractions  of  society , 


544 

which  must  be  connected  with  the  labors  of  industry, 
and  the  sacrifices  of  subordination  ;  he  might  have 
seen  our  native  indians,  either  singly,  or  in  com- 
panies, travel  for  many  moons  successively,  to  ex- 
plore other  forests,  and  to  seek  for  other  rivers  ;  he 
might  have  seen  M^hole  tribes  rise  from  their  seats  at 
once,  and,  carrying  with  them  the  bones  of  their 
fathers,  seek  new  habitations  at  the  distance  of  hun- 
dreds of  leagues. — But  his  lordship  has  seen  none  of 
these  things ;  and  he  speaks  of  the  savage  state 
without  understanding  it,  and  of  human  nature  in 
the  beginning  of  time,  without  knowing  how  it  has 
been  affected,  or  what  principles  of  action  it  has 
displayed  in  similar  situations  in  later  periods.  Like 
many  other  philosophers,  he  judges  and  reasons 
concerning  man  only  from  whati^^"  has  seen  ;  and  is 
led  to  form  wrong  conclusions  from  his  own  prepos- 
sessions. 

According  to  his  principles  a  state  of  savagism 
never  could  have  existed  on  the  supposition  of  vari- 
ous original  species  of  men,  more  than  on  that  of 
one.  "  Fear  of  wild  beasts,"  and  "  the  attractions 
of  society,"  would  have  held  each  race  so  closely 
connected  together  as  to  have  *'  prevented  their  dis- 
j)ersion."     Every   art   of  agriculture  would   liave 


345 

been  tried  before  they  would  have  extended  thek 
habitations  into  the  dangerous  wilderness.     A  civ- 
lized  community  would  have  risen  round  the  dwell- 
ing of  the  progAiitor  of  each  race.     And  when  they 
should  have  been  compelled  by  necessity  to  enlarge 
their  limitSi  they  would  have  extended  them  in  com- 
pany.    The  forests  would  have  fallen  before  them 
as  they  advanced  ;  and  fear,  and  the  social  principle, 
would  have  equally  contributed  to   restrain  them 
from  encountering  the  hazards,  and  risking  the  dis- 
persions consequent  upon  indulging  the  spirit  of 
the  chace.     The  world,  instead  of  being  filled  with 
numerous   tribes   of    savages,    would   have   every 
where  presented  to  us  civilized  nations.     His  lord- 
ship, on  this  subject,  constantly  reasons  against  him- 
self.    He  intends  to  combat  the  doctrine  of  a  single 
species,   from  the   existence   of  the  savage  state, 
which  yet  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  that  doc- 
trine, and  would  certainly  be  precluded  on  his  own 
principles. 

Finally,  his  lordship  ''  affirms,"  that  if  all  men  had 
descended  from  one  family  "  there  never  could  have 
existed  but  one  language,  without  the  aid  of  a  mira- 
cle," which  he  only  supposes  in  the  case,  with  the  in- 
sidious view  of  exposing  it  to  derision.     This  is  an 


T   T 


346 

assertion  which  is  certainly,  not  a  little  surprizing 
in  a  great  philosopher,  who  has  undertaken  to  treat 
of  human  nature,  and  to  present  Vb  us  a  philosophic 
historj'  of  man. — Similarity  of  language  among  all 
nations,  diversified  only  by  the  various  grades  of 
improvement  in  science,  and  the  arts,  to  which  they 
should  respectively  have  attained,  would  have  beeli 
a  natural  consequence  of  the  universal  civilization  of 
mankind  continued  down  from  a  wise  and  virtuou's 
father  of  the  race,  through  all  the  branches  of  his 
posterity.  Diversity  of  languages  is  an  equally  ne- 
cessary consequence  of  the  savagism  of  a  great 
portion  of  the  tribes  of  mankind,  induced  in  the 
manner  that  has  been  already  explained,  and  natur- 
ally arising  out  of  the  condition  of  the  earth  immedi- 
ately after  such  a  catastrophe  as  the  universal  del- 
uge.— The  reason  of  this  will  be  obvious  on  a  little 
reflection.  The  savage  has  comparatively  few 
wants;  and  his  state  furnishing  but  few  objects  for 
the  employment  of  language  in  his  intercourse  with 
other  savages,  the  compass  of  discourse  between 
them  must  be  extremely  limited.  A  savage  is  a 
taciturn  animal.  The  paucity  of  his  ideas,  and  the 
solitude  in  which  he  lives,  incline  him  rarely  to 
speak  rand  when  he  does  speak,  he  is  obliged,  for 


347 

want  of  a  sufficient  copiousness  of  terms,  to  express 
himself  chiefly  in  figures.  Tiiis  artifice  the  effect  of 
i^ecessity,  abridges  still  more  the  sphere  of  language, 
by  making  the  same  term  stand  for  various  ideas, 
sensible,  or  mental,  physical,  or  moral,  according  as 
the  speaker  finds  resemblances  or  analogies  between 
them.  A  swift  man,  is  a  deer, — a  man  of  address  is 
«  fox, — a  warrior  of  strength  or  courage  is  a  bear. — 
The  union  and  harmony  of  peace  is  expressed  by  <» 
chain;  and  putting  an  end  to  the  cruelties  and  distress 
of  war,  by  covering  the  tomahawk y  or  %v ashing  the 
bloody  bed.  In  this  rude  condition  of  mankind,  the 
elements  of  speech  must  be  extremely  narrow.  At 
the  same  time,  among  different  tribes  it  must  be 
very  various.  Each  new  region,  each  new  climate 
into  which  they  may  be  dispersed,  will  present  to 
the  senses  many  different  objects,  must  create  differ- 
ent wants,  which  will  consequently  require  new 
terms  by  which  to  express  them.  Hence  will  result 
a  diversity  in  the  first  elements  of  speech  between 
various  tribes. — If  a  few  common  terms  should  be 
transmitted  from  the  primitive  stock  relative  to  the 
most  familiar  ideas,  and  objects  of  the  first  neces- 
sity, yet  even  these  would  undergo,  in  time,  con- 
siderable   modifications    arising    from    the    usual 


348 

causes  which  create  a  continual  flux  in  all  langua- 
ges ;  and  many  of  them  would  be  so  changed  from 
their  original  forms  as  hardly  to  be  recognized  to 
have  been  once  the  same,  or  sprung  from  the  same 
roots.  Language  would  become  as  various  as  the 
tribes  of  men.  And  as  these  tribes  would  advance 
in  the  cultivation  of  the  arts,  their  respective 
languages  would  constantly  exhibit  still  less  resem- 
blance to  one  another.  They  would  commence  the 
vast  carter  of  improvement,  as  we  have  seen,  with 
few  elements  in  common ;  and  even  these  few 
would  soon  undergo  material  changes.  And  in  the 
infinite  multitude  of  words  which  civilization,  sci- 
ence, and  the  arts  add  to  language,  no  two  nations, 
perhaps,  have  ever  agreed  upon  the  same  sounds  to 
rej:)resent  the  same  ideas; — In  the  progress  of  time, 
indeed,  the  superior  refinement  of  one  nation  above 
its  neighbours  may  induce  them  to  adopt  many  of  its 
terms  along  with  its  arts  ;  conquest  may  impose  a 
language  ;  extension  of  empire  may  contribute  to 
melt  down  different  dialects  into  one  mass  ;  but  in- 
dependent tribes  naturally  give  rise  to  diversity  of 
tongues. 

Hence,  although  the  speech  of  men  was  origin- 
ally  one,  yet,  as  they  separated  themselves  from  on^ 


349 

another  over  the  uncultivated  face  of  the  primitive 
world,  and  gave  existence  to  various  savage  tribes, 
or  tribes  only  in  the  first  simple  stages  of  society, 
they  laid  the  foundation,  at  the  same  time,  of  an  equal 
variety  of  dialects. — Every  argument,  therefore, 
employed  by  his  lordship  fails  to  support  the  super- 
structure which  he  attempts  to  rest  upon  it,  and 
this  last,  which  he  deemed  the  strongest  of  all,  in- 
stantly falls  to  pieces  under  a  fair  and  critical  ex* 
amination. 

Such  is  the  attack  which  this  celebrated  philo- 
sopher has  made  on  the  doctrine  of  the  identity  of 
the  human  species.  In  all  the  writings  of  this  author 
there  is  not  another  example  of  so  much  weak  and 
inconclusive  reasoning.  This  ought  in  justice 
to  be  imputed  rather  to  the  indefensible  nature 
of  the  cause  which  he  has  undertaken  to  maintain, 
than  to  any  defect  of  talents  in  the  writer.  For,  to 
him  I  may  apply  the  lines  which,  on  another  occa= 
sion,  he  applies  to  Dr.  Robertson  ; 

Si  Pergama  dextra 
Defend!  possent,  etiara  hac  defensa  fuissent.. 


APPENDIX, 


APPENDIX. 


OF  THE  NATURAL  BRAVERY  AND  FORTITUDE 

OF  THE    AMERICAN   INDIANS OR  THE  HIS- 

TORY  OF  THEIR  MANNERS  AS  IT  RELATES 
TO  THEIR  MILITARY  EXPEDITIONS,  AND 
THEIR  CONDUCT  TO  THOSE  WHO  ARE  TA- 
KEN CAPTIVE  IN  WAR. 

The  writers  who  subdivide  the  human  race  into 
various  species  have  sought  support  for  this  opinion, 
among  other  arguments,  from  the  great  diversity  of 
moral  and  intellectual  powers  and  qualities  which 
exist  between  various  nations  of  the  globe,  and  es- 
pecially between  the  tribes  of  African  and  American 
savages,  and  the  civilized  inhabitants  of  Europe,  or 
of  Asia.  Reasoning  falaciously  from  false  facts,  they 
have  endeavoured  to  establish  such  extreme  and 
essential  distinctions  between  them  as  can  be  the  re- 
sult only  of  some  original  and  radical  difference  of 
nature.  Mr.  White  has  taken  for  his  example  the 
negroes  of  Africa,  and  Lord  Kaims  the  indian  abo- 
riginals of  North- America.  The  former  I  have 
already  considered  in  my  remarks  on  the  discourses 


354 

of  that  writer.  On  the  latter,  which  have  been  so 
often,  and  so  egregiously  misrepresented,  I  purpose 
in  this  appendix,  to  make  a  few  observations. 

Lord  Kaims  appeals  to  the  modes  of  warfare  in 
use  among  the  American  indians  as  indicating 
a  degree  of  pusillanimity  beyond  the  ordinary  stand- 
ard of  human  nature,  which,  in  his  opinion,  ought 
to  degrade  them  from  the  rank  of  men ;  and  to  the 
cruelty  of  the  tortures  inflicted  on  their  prisoners,  as 
well  as  their  apathy  in  suifering,  as  demonstrating 
some  principle  in  their  constitutional  organization 
which  entirely  discriminates  them  from  the  rest  of - 
mankind,  and  may  be  justly  admitted  as  a  sufficient 
ground  to  arrange  them  as  a  distinct  species.  His 
lordship  appears  to  be  very  imperfectly  informed  in 
the  genuine  history  of  these  tribes,  and  to  have  be- 
stowed little  reflection  on  the  po^verful  influence  of 
moral  causes  in  forming  the  characters  of  nations. 
Both  these  phenomena  which  have  induced  him,  to- 
gether v.ii;h  many  other  Eiuopean  writers,  to  brand 
the  natives  of  the  new  world  with  cowardice,  and 
with  almost  incredible  apathy  of  feeling,  result  from 
their  state  of  society,  and  the  peculiar  situation  of 
their  small  hordes,  and  from  certain  habits  and  opin- 
ions existing  amon^  them  wluch  have  originated^  in  a 


355 

great  measure,  Irom  the  same  causes.  Some  de- 
tails in  their  history  I  shall  now  present  to  the  rea- 
der relative  to  their  modes  of  warfare,  with  their 
treatment  of  their  captives,  and  the  peculiar  opinions, 
and  circumstances  in  their  state,  which  influence 
each,  whence  we  may  derive  a  philosophic  solution 
of  those  extraordinary  traits  in  their  manners,  which 
have  given  occasion  to  these  unjust  and  odious  im* 
putations. 

The  aboriginal  natives  of  North- America  present 
to  the  philosopher  some  new  and  curious  views  of 
human  nature  which  were  wholly  unknown  to  an- 
tiquity, and  which  even  now,  notvvithstanduig  the 
extended  improvements  of  modern  times  in  geo- 
graphical, and  moral  science,  are  not  to  be  met  with 
in  any  other  portion  of  the  globe.  In  tracing  the 
origin  of  this  people  by  the  most  probable  co  jeC' 
tures,  it  has  been  generally  agreed,  that  they  are  de- 
rived from  the  Tartar  hordes  dispersed  along  the  north- 
eastern coasts  of  Asia.  Here  a  barbarous  people, 
impelled  by  accident,  or  attracted  by  the  allurements 
of  the  chace,  passing  the  narrow  seas  which,  iw  this 
part,  separate  the  two  continents,  soon  forgot  even 
the  imperfect  arts  of  Siberia  and  Kamtschatka,  ex» 
cept  those  simple  stratagems  which  were  necessary 


SS6 

to  take  their  game  in  the  forest,  or  to  draw  the  fish 
from  the  stream.  In  this  rude  condition  they  would 
be  abandoned  entirely  to  the  unassisted  efforts  of 
nature,  to  be  formed  by  the  influences  of  a  new  cli- 
mate, and  by  the  wants,  and  the  dangers  of  their 
aew  situation.  In  the  milder  and  more  fertile  re- 
gions of  the  southern  continent,  which  had  derived 
their  population,  tlirough  several  intermediate  grades, 
from  the  more  cultivated  nations  in  the  South  of 
Asia,  some  advances  towards  improvement,  and  a 
civilized  state  of  society,  had  been  made.  But 
these  elementary  operations  in  the  arts  had  not  yet 
extended  to  the  tribes  which  lay  above  the  thirtieth 
degree  of  northern  latitude  when  the  first  adventurers 
from  Europe  reached  the  American  shores.  These 
still  remained  in  the  rudest  condition  of  human  na- 
ture. Thej^  were  universally  savage ;  but  they  were 
savages  of  a  temperate  climate,  and,  therefore,  not 
so  utterly  degenerate  as  those  which  are  found  un* 
der  the  latitudes  of  extreme  heat,  or  extreme  cold. 
Tne  powers  of  life  were  not  benumbed  by  the  one, 
nor  enfeebled  by  the  other.  A  warm  sun,  and  a 
luxuriant  vegetation  did  not  offer  to  the  natural  in- 
dolence of  a  savage  the  means  of  subsistence  without 
the  strenuous  exertion  of  his  own  faculties ;  nor  did 


557 

the  rigors  of  a  frozen  sky  render  those  exertions  en- 
tirely fruitless.  The  indian  of  North- America  pre- 
sents to  us  man  completely  savage,  but  obliged  by 
the  nature  of  the  forest  which  he  inhabits,  and  the 
variable  temperature  of  the  heaven  under  which  he 
lives,  as  well  as  by  the  enemies  with  which  he  is 
surrounded,  to  employ  both  courage  and  address, 
for  his  subsistence,  and  defence.  He  is  of  savages, 
therefore,  the  most  noble,  in  whom  the  unaided 
powers  of  human  nature  appear  with  greater  dignity 
than  among  those  rude  tribes  who  either  approach 
nearer  to  the  equator,  or  are  farther  removed  to- 
wards the  poles. 

It  is  not  my  object,  at  present,  to  pourtray  the 
moral  character  of  the  American  savage  in  all  its  re- 
lations ;  I  shall  contemplate  it  singly  in  his  military 
operations  and  atchievements,  as  this  is  the  principal 
point  of  view  in  which  it  is  immediately  related  to 
my  subject;*   and  is  that,  indeed,  in  which  the 


*  This  appendix  is  extracted  from  a  larger  dissertation  en- 
titled the  history  and  philosophy  of  the  manners  of  the  Ameri- 
can savage,  which  I  have  had  it  in  contemplation  to  prepare  as 
an  addition  to  my  lectures  on  Moral  Philosophy  in  the  college 
designed  to  exhibit  the  influence  of  various  states  of  society  on 
the  human  character. 


358 

peculiarities  of  tins  extraordinary  race  arc  chiefly 
displayed.  Except  hunting,  which  is  the  necessary 
means  of  their  subsistence,  war  forms  their  favourite 
occupation,  and  to  excel  in  it  is  their  supreme  ambi- 
tion. In  conducting  it  they  exhibit  the  greatest 
address  and  enterprize,  perseverance  and  fortitude. 
If  the  passions  of  such  uncultivated  minds  are  often 
atrocious,  they  sometimes  display  such  heroic,  and 
even  sublime  eiforts  of  courage,  and  unconquerable 
firmness  of  soul,  as  justly  excite  our  wonder,  and 
command  our  admiration. 

In  treating  this  subject  I  shall  consider,  the 
causes,  the  conduct,  and  the  consequences  of  their 
wars. 

Wars,  among  them,  most  frequently  arise  from 
encroachments  on  their  hunting  grounds,  or  from 
contests  concerning  their  limits.  Although  the 
idea  of  dividing  land  in  private  and  individual  pro^ 
perty  has  never  occurred  to  a  savage,  and  is,  indeed^ 
resisted  by  all  his  habits,  and  his  feelings  of  unrestrain- 
ed liberty,  yet  their  hunting  grounds  they  regard  as  a 
national  domain  in  which  every  huntsman  and  war- 
rior feels  the  deepest  interest,  as  it  is  the  great  field 
of  his  sports,  and  furnishes  the  only  sources  of  his 
subsistence.     He  is  vigilant,  therefore,  to  observe- 


559 

¥very  transgression  of  its  limits,  and  prompt  to  rqjel, 
or  to  punish  eyery  invasion  of  the  national  rights^ 
But,  as  they  have  no  arts  by  which  these  boundaries 
can  be  fixed  with  precision,  and  they  must  neces- 
sarily be  left  to  be  rudely  marked  by  mountains  and 
rivers,  and  by  certain  lines  which,  at  different 
points,  are  indistinctly  traced  through  the  woods 
to  connect  these,  they  are  liable  to  be  frequently 
passed  by  foreign  hunters  who  cahnot  be  minute-» 
ly  acquainted  with  their  course.  The  uncertainty 
of  such  lines,  likewise,  must  often  afford  to  neigh* 
bouripg  tribes  pretexts  for  mutual  invasions,  or^ 
complaints.  In  the  ardor  of  the  chace,  it  is  easy  for 
young  and  impatient  hunters  to  overleap  those  ill  de- 
fined limits  without  any  hostile  design.  But  if  they 
should  happen  to  be  met  in  this  act  of  aggression  by 
any  of  that  nation  v/ho  consider  themselves  possess* 
ed  of  the  right  of  property,  the  intruders  usually  pay 
with  their  liyes  the  forfeit  of  their  rashness  ;  or  if  the 
force  on  each  side  be  nearly  equal,  their  meetings 
issues  in  mortal  conflict.  If  the  aggression  is  not 
discovered  and  punished  on  the  spot,  as  soon  as  it  is 
known  to  the  chiefs  of  the  injured  nation,  they  send 
a  herald  with  a  demand  of  satisfaction,  or  they  en- 
courage their  young  men  to  make  reprisals  on  the 


360 

ofFending  tribe,  which  inevitably  kindles  the  rage  of 
war  for  the  diversion  of  hunting. 

The  wars  of  rude  people  often  arise  from  the  most 
trivial  causes ;  and  not  unfrequcntly  it  happens  that 
parties  of  young  hunters  from  different  tribes  mt-et-. 
ing  in  the  forest,  and  roused  by  that  spirit  (3l  rival- 
ry, and  that  pride  of  national  atchievenient  so  natu- 
ral to  man,  enter  into  contests  of  emuiaiion.  Con- 
tests, which,  managed  with  their  rough  passions, 
easily  degenerate  into  broils,  that  terminate  in  blood- 
shed. And  the  first  blood  which  is  spilled  too  of- 
ten becomes  the  signal  of  general  war.  In  these 
small  tribes  the  persons  who  are  slain  are  more 
nearly  or  remotely  connected  by  the  ties  of  blood 
with  every  family  in  the  nation.  Each  man  feels 
and  resents  the  murder  as  a  mortal  injury  aimed 
against  himself:  and  the  whole  nation,  with  that 
spirit  of  clan  which  always  pervades  such  narrow 
communities,  are  ready  to  rush  to  its  revenge. 
Hostilities  among  savages  are  seldom  waged  through 
motives  of  ambition,  which  hardly  can  have  any 
place  in  a  state  of  society  entirely  destitute  of  wealth ; 
or  from  the  cool  dictates  of  a  calculating  arid  fore- 
seeing policy,  which  would  involve  ideas  too  com-'* 
plex    and    refined  for    their  uncultivated    minds; 


361 

They  are  commonly  the  result  of  the  sudden  im- 
pulses of  passion.  Rude  hunters,  and  young  and» 
mettlesome  warriors,  little  acquainted  with  the  re- 
strains of  government,  and  presumptuous  from  ii.ex- 
perience,  impatient  or  incapable  of  the  details  of 
negociation  by  which  hostilities  might  be  prevented^ 
and  wrongs  compensated  or  redressed,  are  ever 
prompt  to  recur  to  force,  and  on  the  sUtj^htest  pro- 
vocation, make  their  appeal  to  arms.  Their  want  of 
subordination  to  any  civil  authority,  for  no  control 
which  deserves  that  title  is  established  among  them^ 
and  their  lofty  sense  of  personal  independence,  fre- 
quently subject  their  national  movements  to  violent 
convulsions.  They  possess  no  regularly  organized 
bodies  charged  with  the  care  of  the  common  weal, 
who  can  coolly  deliberate  on  the  public  interests,  and 
preserve  the  nation  from  being  committed,  and  its 
peace  embroiled  by  the  rash  actions  of  their  young 
warriors.  Yet,  when  it  is  threatened  with  danger, 
their  old  men,  whom  age  and  experience  have  cloth- 
ed, even  among  savages,  with  a  certain  degree  of 
respect,  convene  and  ofi'er  their  counsels.  To  ad- 
vise is  all  that  is  in  their  power;  which,,  however, 
is  not  without  its  influence  when  the  general  inflania* 
tion  is  not  already   excited   to  too  high  a  pitchy 

w  w 


362 

Having"  no  laws  to  punish  crimes  among  themselves, 
stili  less  does  there  exist  any  public  law  to  repress, 
or  to  punish  aggressions  meditated,  or  committed 
against  any  foreign  tribe.  And  when  a  young  warrior, 
stimulated  by  his  native  courage,  or  burning  with 
national  emulation  makes  the  first  attack  upon  a 
neighbouring  tribe,  he  relies  securely  on  the  protec- 
tion of  his  own  people.  Their  love  of  war,  and  fe- 
rocity of  character,  render  them  ever  prompt  to  de- 
fend the  indiscretions  of  courage.  The  sympathies 
of  these  savages  are  always  in  unison  with  vioient 
and  daring  actions.  Hence  the  multiplication,  and 
the  sanguinary  complexion  of  their  v,ars. 

They  do  not,  however,  always  precipitate  them- 
selves rashly,  and  without  discernment,  into  every 
new  war.  When  hostilities  are  threatened  by  some 
powerful  tribe,  the  whole  nation  is  assembled  to  de- 
liberate on  the  expediency  of  taking  up  the  toma- 
hawk, and  on  the  measures  to  be  pursued  in  the  pre- 
sent crisis.  Here  their  old  men  give  their  sage  and 
experienced  advice,  and  their  orators  address  them 
with  an  eloquence  always  highly  figurative,  and  often 
noble  and  commanding.  If  the  nation  which  is  the 
object  of  their  councils  is  nearly  equal  in  force  with 
themselves,  their  own  courage,  and  sense  of  national 


363 

honor,  and  above  all,  the  ardor  of  their  youth,  wiH 
commonly  determine  their  ultimate  resolutions  in 
favor  of  war.  And  it  is  surprising  with  what  saga- 
city and  judicious  discernment,  the  reasons  on  either 
side  of  the  questions  which  are  proposed  to  their 
deliberation,  will  often  be  estimated,  and  balanc- 
ed by  these  savage  senators.  But  if  it  be  obvious 
that  hostilities  must  be  waged  by  them,  at  present, 
with  great  national  disadvantage,  the  cooler  counsels 
of  age  and  experience  will  sometimes  turn  the  scale 
to  the  side  of  peace.  If  this  be  the  result,  they 
hasten  to  send  an  embassy  to  the  tribe  with  whom 
they  were  likely  to  be  embroiled,  and  by  gifts  and 
concessions,  endeavour  to  avert  their  fury.  If 
nothing  less  will  appease  the  vengeance  of  their  en- 
emies for  some  favourite  wsjriors  slain,  than  the 
blood  of  the  murderers,  this  demand  is  followed  by 
an  example  of  retaliative  justice  the  most  extraordi- 
nary, perhaps,  that  the  history  of  any  people  has  re- 
corded. They  have  no  laws  by  which  they  can  ar- 
rest, confine,  or  put  to  death,  any  member  of  their 
respective  tribes.  But  the  nation  which  is  solicit- 
ing peace  under  these  disadvantages,  resolves,  by  a 
public  decree,  to  abandon  the  victims  which  have 
been  demanded,   to   the    revenge    of    the   offend- 


3fl4 

cd  party.  And  what  is  not  less  singular  than  this 
public  abandonment,  is  the  calm  resignation  with 
which  those  who  arc  thus  devoted  await  the  execu- 
tion prepared  for  them.  Not  an  effort  is  made  to 
resist,  or  to  escape  it.  The  warriors  of  the  injured 
nation,  deputed  to  inflict  it,  appear,  and,  without  a 
murmur  they  offer  their  heads  to  the  vengeful  toma-» 
hawk,  now  the  minister  of  peaces  and  the  harmony 
of  the  two  nations  is  cemented  by  the  blood  of  the 
murderers.* 

If  a  determination  for  war  is  the  result  of  the  na- 
tional council,  the  resolution  is  received  with  a  uni- 
versal shout.  They  raise  the  war  song, — they  min- 
gle in  the  war  dance,  which  is  a  horrible  imitation 
of  all  the  most  atrocious  actions  of  their  cruel  war- 
fare;— they  run  to  prepare  their  weapons; — they 
send  to  invite  their  allies  ; — they  paint  their  bodies, 
and  especially  their  faces,  with  a  variety  of  coarse, 
fantastic,  colours  and  figures,  which  they  suppose 


•  This  resignation  appears  to  be  the  result  of  a  noble  senti- 
ment of  piitriotism  to  save  their  countrymen  from  the  calami* 
ties  which  would  otherwise  fall  upon  them;  or  of  a  full  convic- 
tion thxt,  when  dbandoned  by  their  tribe,  it  is  no  longer  possible 
to  escape  the  vengeance  of  tlieir  enemies  :  and,  as  they  do  not 
fear  deuth,  they  would  not  seem  to  wish  to  delay  it. 


,365 

-will  be  at  once  beautiful  to  their  friends,  and  terri- 
ble to  their  enemies  ; — they  equip  themselves 
for  the  expedition; — they  chuse  a  chieftain  to 
conduct  it.  Frequently  it  happens  that  some  not- 
ed warrior,  confiding  in  the  reputation  which  his 
past  achievements  have  gained  him,  offers  himself  to 
be  a  leader,  and  is  received  with  enthusiasm.  When 
the  election  is  to  be  made  out  of  the  mass  of  warri- 
ors, the  choice  is  said  to  be,  in  many  instances,  de- 
termined by  the  physiognomy  of  the  chief.  For,  sav- 
ages not  being  accustomed  to  disguise  their  emotions, 
and  leaving  their  features  to  be  formed  or  modified  by 
the  natural  and  unconstrained  sentiments  and  passions 
of  the  mind,  often  exhibit  in  their  countenance  a 
striking  mirror  of  their  character.  His  features 
should  be  fierce,  his  eye  bold,  and  penetrating,  his 
muscles  strong,  his  limbs  active,  and  his  whole  as- 
pect and  demeanor  haughty  and  intrepid.  A  loud 
and  terrible  voice  is,  likewise,  a  great  recommend- 
ation to  a  leader  in  their  esteem  as  it  was  among  the 
ancient  Germans.  For,  in  battle,  he  must  endeav- 
our by  his  shouts  to  rouse  the  courage  of  his  own 
troops,  and  to  terrify  those  of  his  enemy.  The  voice 
of  the  chief  serves  them,  instead  of  trumpets,  to 
€0und  the  charge ;   and  must  often    direct  their 


S66 

movements  during  the  conflict.  But  the  chief  title 
to  the  public  favor,  in  this  moment  of  danger,  is 
founded  in  his  past  exploits,  and  his  distinguished 
exertions  of  intrepidity  and  skill  in  hunting-  or  in  war. 
Those  heroes  whose  achievements  the  nation  has 
often  beheld  and  admired  will  commonly  he  follow- 
ed by  her  warriors  with  the  greatest  coiifidence. 

But  as,  in  this  state  of  society,  no  public  obliga- 
tion, more  than  private  duty  can  be  imposed  by 
any  law  of  the  community,  the  actions  of  every  mem- 
ber are  unconstrained  and  voluntary,  and  depend  in 
this  case  on  the  sympathy  of  the  individual  with  the 
public  spirit.  The  whole  body  of  warriors  therefore 
are  not  expected  to  follow  the  national  chieftain ; 
and  many  partizan  corps  are  formed  under  separate 
leaders.  A  bold  and  intrepid  chief  presenting  to 
them  some*point  of  attack  which  he  is  ambitious  to 
assail,  with  the  probable  means  of  ensuring  success, 
offers  himself  to  conduct  the  enterprize  ;  and  march- 
ing forth  from  the  midst  of  the  assembly  with  a  lofty 
step,  strikes  his  tomahawk  into  the  body  of  a  tree. 
All  those,  who,  admiring  his  courage,  and  confiding 
in  his  talents,  arc  inclined  to  follow  him,  advance  in 
the  same  manner  and  strike  their  hatchets  under  his 
into  the  same  tree.     This  is  their  enlistment.     It  is 


367 

perfectly  voluntary.  A  spirit  of  enterprize,  and  at- 
tachment to  their  leader  are  their  only  motives,  and 
their  only  reward,  besides  glutting  their  vengeance, 
the  applauses  of  their  countrymen.  No  legal  penalty 
could  be  iiiflicted  on  desertion.  But  after  an  indian 
has  once  fixed  his  tomahawk  in  the  tree,  to  retract 
his  engagement  would  brand  him  with  indeliible 
contempt  and  shame. 

Sometimes  a  single  warrior,  to  prove  his  prowess 
and  address,  or  to  satisfy  his  revenge  for  some  friend 
slain,  will  undertake  an  expedition  alone  ;  and,  after 
marching  over  hundreds  of  leagues,  and  enduring 
almost  incredible  hardships,  and  spending  weeks  and 
months  in  this  solitary  warfare,  he  will  return  grati- 
fied if  he  has  taken  only  a  single  scalp  ;  which  is  in- 
deed, a  difficult  achievement  against  an  enemy  at 
once  so  brave,  and  so  vigilant.  But  if  he  returns 
wifhout  this  proof  of  his  success,  his  courage  or  his 
dexterity  is  dishonored  in  the  esteem  of  his  nation. 
A  lid,  with  them,  it  is  nearly  an  equal  disgrace  to  be 
deficient  in  stratagem  as  in  bravery.  If  he  bringSr 
home  several  of  these  barbarous  trophies,  it  fixes  his 
character  as  a  brave  and  skilful  warrior. 

But,  by  following  the  ]:;rincipal  chieftain,  who 
conducts  the  national  force,  we  shall  gain  a  more 


368 

distinct  view  of  the  military  genius  of  this  extraor- 
dinary  people. — Assembling  his  little  army,  he  ad- 
dresses them  in  a  rude  eloquence  that  is  not  desti- 
tute of  energy  and  force.     It  glows  with  the  warm- 
est and  the  boldest  figures,  well  calculated  to  in- 
flame all  their  fierce  and  unrelenting  passions.      He 
reminds  them  of  the  injuries  of  their  enemies — ^the 
broken  chain  of  treaties — the  bloody  axe  which  has 
severed   it — ^the  unwashed  bed  of  tlieir  slaughtered 
countrymen — their  bones  whitening  on  the  hills  that 
can  never  be  gathered  to  their  country  burying  place 
— the  fires  lighted  up  to  torture  their  captive  broth- 
ers.  And  when  he  perceives  their  passions  kindling, 
when  he  hears  their  impatient  shouts  and  sees  their 
frantic  gestures,  he  raises  the  song,  and  leads  up  the 
dance  of  war.     This  is  the  horrid  prelude  to  their 
entering  on  their  march. 

One  precaution  in  selecting  their  troops  deserves 
to  be  remarked,  as  it  is  an  evidence  at  once  of  their 
prudence  in  forming  their  military  plans,  and  their 
resolute  and  determined  spirit  in  executing  them. 
A  young  man  is  not  permitted  to  take  arms  along 
with  the  host,  in  any  hazardous  expedition,  who 
has  not  given  decisive  proofs  of  his  courage,  and  ad- 
dress in  hunting,   and  of  his  patience  in  enduring 


369 

fatigue  and  pain,  lest  his  weakness,  or  unskilfulness 
should  bring  dishonor  on  his  nation. 

In  their  march  they  observe  nothing  like  the  disci- 
pline that  takes  place  in  the  armies  of  civilized  na- 
tions. The  chief  enjoys  no  authority  but  what  his 
reputation  gives  him.  Confidence  in  his  skill,  and  a 
sense  of  common  interest  and  danger  are  the  sole 
principles  of  union  and  order  among  them.  He  lays 
before  his  warriors  his  general  plan,  and  the  regula- 
tions he  wishes  to  be  observed  in  their  advances  to- 
wards the  enemy.  The  rest  is  left  to  each  man's 
judgment  and  discretion. 

Their  weapons,  before  the  introduction  of  fire 
arms  by  the  Europeans,  were  bows,  arrows, 
spears,  and  clubs.  Their  spears  and  arrows  were- 
headed  with  the  hardest  bones  taken  from  animals 
which  they  had  slain  in  hunting  ;  or  with  stones,  of 
a  fine  and  hard  grain,  nicely  ground  to  a  point,  by 
a  tedious  and  laborious  friction.  Their  clubs  were 
formed  out  of  a  weighty  species  of  wood,  having  a 
large  knob  at  the  end  most  distant  from  the  hand, 
which,  on  one  side,  was  fashioned  to  an  edge  re- 
sembling that  of  an  axe.  With  this,  they  could 
cither  knock  down  an  enemy,  or  cleave  his  skulL 
In  place  of  these  clubs,  they  would  frequently  enr- 


X  X 


370 

ploy  a  hard  kind  of  granite,  moulded  by  extraordi- 
nary pains  into  the  figure  of  an  axe,  except  that,  in- 
stead of  the  eye  into  which  the  handle  is  inserted, 
they  \Aorked  out  a  small  groove  or  channel  round  the 
upper  part  of  the  stone,  about  which  they  twisted  a 
withe  of  some  tough  wood,  whereby  to  connect  it 
with  the  handle.  This  was  an  important  instrument 
both  in  their  domestic  occupations,  and  in  war;  for, 
with  it  they,  occasionally,  either  cut  their  fuel,  or 
dispatched  their  enemy.  But  since  their  commerce, 
first  with  the  Europeans,  and,  more  recently,  with 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  they  have,  in  their 
wars  generally  substituted  the  musquet,  or  the  rifle- 
barreled  gun  in  the  room  of  the  spear  and  the  bow. 
And,  in  place  of  the  club  they  employ  the  toma- 
hawk, which  is  a  small  axe  formed  at  the  poll  like 
the  head  of  a  hammer.  This  they  can  throw  to  the 
distance  of  several  yards  with  surprizing  dexterity ; 
and  can  cast  it  with  such  slight  as,  at  pleasure,  to 
strike  their  object  either  with  the  poll,  or  with  the 
edge.  In  combat  they  use  it  either  in  hand,  or  at  a 
distance :  and,  in  both  ways,  they  render  it  a  very 
formidable  weapon  to  an  enemy.  Besides  these 
arms,  they  usually  carry  a  long  knife,  suspended 
from  the  girdle,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  the  scalps, 


371 

which  are  their  trophies  of  victory  from  the  enemies 
whom  they  may  have  slain  in  battle. 

Thus  accoutred,  they  take  up  tlieir  line  of  march, 
which  is  always  in  single  file.     They  proceed,  one 
following  another,  exactly  in  the  same  path ;  and 
each  succeeding  one  preserves  an  interval  of  st  veral 
paces  between  him  and  the  warrior  immediately  be- 
fore him.     And  this  order  they  observe  till  they 
arrive  so  near  their  enemy  that  the  continuance  of  it 
would  expose  them  to  danger,  or  betray  their  move- 
ments, when  they  separate,  and  direct  their  fucure 
progress  in  the  manner  which  wall  be  afterwards 
described.     In  their  march  they  carry  themselves  in 
the    most  erect   posture,    casting  a   vigilant    eyq 
through  the  forest  to  discover  any  danger  that  may 
be  lurking  in  ambuscade  near  them.    The  necessity 
of  directing  such  constant  vigilance  to  the  objects 
around  them,    prevents  them  from  regarding  the 
small  obstructions  which  must  necessarily  be  in  a 
path  that  passes  entirely   through  a  wild    woods. 
Hence  they  contract  a  habit  of  raising  their  feet  when 
they  walk  much  higher  than  is  customaiy  among 
civilized  nations.     As  they  advance,  they  observe 
the  most  profound  silence,  unless  some  dangi?x  *^ 
suddenly  discovered.     When  this  happens  it  is  in? 


372. 

timated  to  the  line  by  a  peculiar  kind  of  hooty  which 
it  is  impossible  to  describe,  but  which  issues  from 
the  thorax  by  a  sudden  and  violent  compression  of 
the  muscles  about  the  breast,  and  impinges  forcibly 
upon  the  roof  of  the  palate.  The  march  is  arrest- 
ed. Every  one  looks  out  for  the  danger  and  puts 
himself  in  a  posture  of  defence.  If  an  enemy  ap- 
pears, prepared  to  give  them  battle,  and  not  too  pow- 
erful to  be  resisted,  each  one  instantly  betakes  him- 
self to  the  protection  of  a  tree,  or  other  fixed  ob- 
ject, from  behind  which  he  can  most  securely  annoy 
the  foe,  or  defend  himself.  The  party  which  is  most 
powerful  advances  from  tree  to  tree.  The  weaker 
retreats  by  the  same  degrees  ;  endeavouring,  how- 
ever, at  the  same  time  to  bear  off  with  them  as  many 
of  their  wounded,  and  even  of  their  slain,  as  they 
are  able  to  carry  with  them.  In  this  they  discover 
sentiments  of  sympathy  and  honor  towards  their 
friends  who  ha^  e  fallen,  which  would  entitle  them 
to  the  highest  praise  in  the  niost  ci^  ilized  nations. 
The  victors  scalp  the  dead,  and  put  to  death  the 
wo'unded  whom  their  friends  have  been  obliged  to 
abandon,  and  who  are  not  able  to  travel  at  the  pace 
xvith  which  they  find  it  necessary  to  retreat.  For 
even  the  victors  are  obliged  to  retreat ;  otherwise 


573 

(hey  would  be  exposed  to  be  cut  off  by  the  whole, 
force  of  the  hostile  nation  which  would  be  roused 
upon  them  in  consequence  of  the  alarm  created  by 
the  return  of  their  vanquished  warriors.  But  both 
parties  return  only  to  prepare  new  expeditions. 

If  they  meet  with  no  such  opposition  in  their  route 
they  march  in  one  body  only  to  a  certain  distance.  As 
they  have  no  means  of  laying  up  magazines,  or  trans-^ 
porting  provisions  for  large  bodies  of  men,  they  arc 
obliged,  before  they  enter  on  the  territories  of  the 
enemy,  to  separate  into  small  parties,  both  for  the 
convenience  of  hunting,  and  for  more  effectually 
concealing  their  designs.  They  usually  part  under 
an  agreement  to  meet  at  a  preconcerted  place  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  town,  or  collection  of  wigwams 
which  is  the  object  of  the  expedition.  This  place 
they  approach  by  various  routes,  with  the  utmost 
caution  and  secrecy  ;  for  if  only  one  man  be  discov- 
ered the  whole  design  is  defeated.  A  small  army 
can  effect  nothing  against  a  nation  apprized  of  its  dan- 
ger, in  which  every  man  is  a  warrior,  and  every  war- 
rior lives  with  his  arms  in  his  hands.  And  it  is  im- 
possible by  any  address  to  conceal  themselves  when 
once  the  vigilance  of  their  enemies  is  awakened. 
They  are  obliged  to  flee  with  the  utmost  precipita- 


574 

tion.  To  prevent  a  discovery  so  fatal  to  their  de- 
signs, they  make  their  approaches,  when  they  have 
arrived  near  their  object,  only  in  the  night.  Dur- 
ing the  dav  they  lie  concealed  in  thickets,  or  be- 
hind the  bodies  of  decayed  timber,  and  often  so  cov- 
ered with  dr}  leaves  that  the  place  of  tlieir  conceal- 
Hient  differs  nothing  in  its  appearance  from  the  or- 
dinary surface  of  the  forest.  If  they  have  occasion 
to  make  any  movement  in  the  day  they  will  crawl, 
and  frequently  to  the  distance  of  miles,  on  their  bel- 
lies, with  the  greatest  perseverance  and  patience. 
When  arrived,  at  length,  at  their  preconcerted 
ground,  here  they  arrange  their  ultimate  plans  for 
making  the  assult.  For  whole  days  will  they 
sometimes  lie  concealed,  with  the  most  astonishing 
tolerance  of  hunger  waiting  the  most  favourable 
moment  for  the  execution  of  their  design.  Of  this 
the  leader  gives  notice  by  runners,  or  by  signals 
already  agreed  upon.  It  is  commonly  at  night, 
when  the  townsmen  are  buried  in  their  profoundest 
sleep  ;  unless,  which  sometimes  is  the  case,  they  find 
a  village  in  the  day  dissolved  incase,  or  in  pleasure, 
and  wholly  off  their  guard.  Then  follows  a  horrid 
scene  of  carnage  and  butchery,  in  which  is  display- 
ed ail  the  ferocity  of  savage  passions  in  their  most 


375 

direful  forms.  All  at  once,  they  spring  from  their 
coverts,  and  rush  into  the  town  which  is  defended 
by  no  ramparts,  and  watched  by  no  guards.  Some, 
bea-ing  flaming  brands  in  their  hands,  fire  the 
huts  in  various  directions.  Others  burst  open  the 
ill  barred  doors  with  hideous  yells,  and  attack  the 
wretched  inhabitants  just  waking  from  sleep  and 
ciiiifounded  with  these  frightful  and  diabolical  sounds. 
At  this  moment  little  use  is  made  of  their  fire  arms. 
They  rely  chiefly  on  the  murderous  tomahawk. 
They  sink  it  into  the  skulls  of  the  defenceless,  and 
mangle  the  limbs  of  those  who  attempt  to  make  any 
resistance.  Men,  women,  and  children  share  the 
saYne  fate,  and  are  slaughtered  without  distinction* 
At  length,  some  of  the  wretched  victims,  escaping 
from  their  burning  habitations,  maintain  a  desperate 
conflict  with  the  victors  in  the  area  before  their  doors. 
D«:^spair  augments  their  force.  With  the  fury  of  de- 
mons they  rush  upon  their  conquerors.  They  con- 
flict,— ^they  mingle  their  tomahawks,  with  most 
frightful  yells  and  screeches  ;  all  is  despair,  and  rage  ; 
and,  the  flaming  town  shedding  a  dismal  light  upon 
this  scene  of  darkness  and  horror,  resembles  what 
our   imaginations  have  pictured  most  dreadfid   in 


376 

hell.*  Tired  at  last  with  carnage,  and  meeting  with 
no  more  resistance,  the  conquerors  condescend  to 
make  prisoners  of  the  few  that  remain.  As  soon  as 
their  work  of  death  is  done,  they  hasten  to  return  to 
their  own  country.  They  delay  no  longer  than  till 
the  victorious  chief  cuts,  or  paints  on  the  handle 
of  a  tomahawk,  which  he  leaves  stuck  in  the  body 
of  a  tree,  or  on  the  tree  itself,  some  rude  emblems 
of  his  success.  An  oval  figure  serves  to  represent 
the  leader,  in  which  are  stained  such  characteristic 
marks  as  may  indicate  to  his  enemies  who  is  the 
hero  who  has  taken  such  vengeance  on  them.  Some 
symbols  he  adds  expressive  of  the  nation  to  which 
he  belongs.  After  these,  very  coarsely  drawn  fig- 
ures of  men,  or  simply  erect  lines,  point  out  the 
number  of  his  warriors,  and  horizontal  lines  the 
number  of  the  slain.  These,  or  similar  symbols 
left  upon  the  spot  form  the  rude  record  of  his  glory. 
Here  we  discern  the  origin  of  trophies  erected  on  the 
field  of  action.  We  perceive  also,  how  naturally 
mankind  have  recourse  to  hieroglyphic  images  or 


*  This  description  is  taken  from  an  account  of  the  sack  of  A 
town  of  the  Hurons. 


377 
characters  to  express  their  thoughts  before  they  are 
acquainted  with  alphabetical  writing. 

This  finished,  they  commence  their  retreat,  which  " 
is  always  executed  with  the  greatest  rapidity.  For 
they  are  sure  of  being  immediately  pursued  with  a 
superior  force  by  the  enraged  nation  ;  and  they  have 
no  means  of  securing  themselves  by  fortifications, 
or  waiting  for  succours  from  their  own  tribe.  And 
it  is  the  glory  of  the  victor  to  retire  with  such  speed 
as  to  preserve  his  prisoners  and  to  save  his  own  men 
from  reprisals  by  the  enemy.  They  hardly  eat  or 
sleep  till  they  have  reached  their  own  territories. 
And  even  then,  if  they  remit  their  pace  while  they 
are  yet  near  the  frontier,  they  are  liable  to  be  over- 
taken, and  cut  off  by  a  foe  burning  with  revenge. 
During  these  movements  their  captives  are  guarded 
with  the  utmost  vigilance.  And  if  any  of  them,  either 
through  fatigue,  or  by  their  wounds,  are  rendered 
unable  to  keep  pace  with  them  in  the  rapidity  of 
their  course,  they  are,  with  unrelenting  barbarity,  in- 
stantly dispatched. 

When  at  last  they  have  gained  their  own  villages, 
they  are  every  where  received  with  shouts  of  tri- 
umph, with  frantic  dances,  and  the  most  flattering 
testimonies  of  the  applause  of  their  countrymen. 


378 

The  prisoners  experience  the  most  opposite 
fates.  Some,  with  strange  contradiction  to  all  the 
ideas  and  customs  of  civilized  nations,  are  adopted 
into  various  families,  and,  from  enemies,  become, 
at  once,  fathers,  brothers,  husbands,  sons,  and  enter 
into  all  the  nearest  relations  of  life.  Others  are  re- 
served for  the  utmost  extremities  of  torture  which 
,  ingenuity  can  invent,  and  cruelty  can  inflict.  A  few 
whom  they  despise  too  much  either  to  adopt,  or  to 
torment,  are  reduced  to  slavery  to  assist  their  v.'omen 
in  those  labors  of  drudgery  to  which  the  sex  is  des- 
tined by  the  customs  of  savage  life. 

But,  before  such  distribution  is  made,  the}'  un- 
dergo a  severe  and  extraordinary  kind  of  discipline 
in  every  village  through  which  they  pass  after  they 
enter  into  the  territories  of  their  conquerors,  or  of 
their  allies.  Each  village  consists  of  a  double  line 
of  huts  extended  along  a  single  street.  At  the  end 
of  the  street  the  prisoners  are  collected  in  order  to 
run  a  most  teazing  and  distressing  kind  of  gauntlet, 
between  two  rows  of  young  men  who  are  ranged  for 
the  purpose  along  either  side,  and  are  armed  with 
sticks,  and  stones,  and  hard  balls  composed  of 
gravel  and  clay.  With  these  the  unhappy  runners 
are   bruised   and   be:>ten   in  a   miserable   manner. 


379 

But,  before  these  races  are  begun,  which  afford  a 
barbarous  sport  to  their  youth,  and  even  to  their 
children,  who  are  permitted  to  mingle  in  the  amuse- 
ment, to  accustom  their  minds  betimes  to  acts  of 
ferocity,  frequently  it  happens  that  women,  or  old 
men  who  have  lost  their  nearest  relations  by  disease, 
or  by  w^ar,  and  who  now  feel  the  want  of  their 
assistance  in  their  domestic  occupations,  will  select 
a  part  of  the  prisoners  whom  they  resolve  lo  adopt 
in  the  room  of  the  deceased.  This  act,  apparently 
so  contradictory  to  the  natural  ferocity  of  savage 
passions,  however  surprising  it  may  seem,  appears 
to  be  very  sincerely  entered  into  by  both  parties,  and 
imn:»ediately  puts  an  end  to  all  further  injury  towards 
the  captive.  The  adopted  enemy  is  received  as  a 
countryman  and  kinsman  ;  and  they  transfer  to  him 
all  the  rights,  and  good  offices  to  which  the  dead 
was  entitled.  The  rest  are  obliged  to  course  it 
through  their  cruel  gauntlet.  If,  in  the  progress  of 
the  race,  some  bruised  and  beaten  victim  of  their 
sport,  discouraged  with  the  frequency  and  violence 
of  the  blows  which  he  receives,  breaks  through  the 
line  of  his  persecutors,  and  endeavours  to  seek  a 
shelter  in  some  cabin,  the  females  of  the  family  will 
frequently  interpose  to  skreen  him  from  further  suf- 


'380 

ferings.  It  depends  on  the  accidental  influence  of 
his  protectors  with  those  who  enter  their  cabin, 
whether  their  kindness  is  able  to  defend  him,  or  he 
is  to  be  dragged  forth  with  increased  fury  to  run  the 
remainder  of  his  course.  If  any  woman  adopts  him 
on  the  spot,  which  is  not  an  unusual  thing,  this  effec- 
tually arrests  all  further  persecution,  and  he  is  re- 
ceived as  a  member  of  the  family.  The  circum- 
stance most  astonishing  in  these  adoptions,  but 
w  hich  is  as  well  attested  as  any  in  their  historj'^,  is 
the  mutual  transfer  which  is  made  of  duties  and  affec- 
tions. The  enemy  is  treated  as  a  friend  and  he,  on 
his  part,  seldom  fails  to  make  a  suitable  return. 
With  a  facility  that  surprizes  us  he  enters  into  the 
sentiments  which  belong  to  his  new  relations.  He 
never  attempts  to  return  to  his  native  country  ;  they 
never  distrust  his  fidelity. 

Every  prisoner  who  does  not  receive  the  privilege 
of  adoption,  or  who  scorns  it,  as  those  commonly 
do  who  value  themselves  upon  being  distinguished 
warriors,  is  destined  to  suffer  death  in  its  most 
fi'ightful  forms.  Before  his  sentence,  however,  is 
intimated  to  him,  he  is,  by  one  of  those  strange 
contradictiois  so  often  exhibited  in  the  savage  cha- 
racter, treated  with  every  appearance  of  kindness, 


381 

and  humanity.     He  receives  the  appellation  of  bro- 
ther ;  he  is  supplied  with  food,  and  lodged  in  the 
same  manner  with  themselves.     What  is  not  less 
strange  than  their  kindness  is  his  indifTerence.     He 
«ats,  and  drinks,  and  sleeps  with  the  same    tran- 
quillity as  if  he  were  in  the  midst  of  his  friends. 
Always  taciturn,  indeed,  according  to  the  character 
of  a  savage,  but  always  composed. — At  length  a 
warrior  arrives  who  informs  him  that  his  fate  is 
decided,  and  his  funeral  pile  is  ready.     He  makes 
no  other  reply,  but  a  certain  kind  of  guttural  and 
forcible  sound,    which,    among   them,    signifies— 
.  IFell!   and  marches  with  an  elevated  and  sullen  air 
towards  the  place  of  his  execution.     Here  he  sees  a 
huge  pile  of  wood  to  which  fire  is  applied,  and  near 
-it  a  tree  to  which  he  is  to  be  bound.     No  sooner 
does  he  see  the  flame,  and  his  enemies  shouting  and 
dancing   round   it,  than  he  raises  his  death  song. 
Sometimes  he  is  bound  close  to  the  trunk  of  the 
tree, — at  other  times  the  cord  is  so  fastened  as  to 
aftord   him  a    certain    range,    in    which    case   he 
courses  round  the  circle  prescribed  to  him  chanting 
his  lugubrious  notes  during  the  whole  of  his  torture, 
or  as  long  as  his  strength  will  enable  him  to  utter  a 
voice.     The  fire  is  not  intended  to  consume  him 


S82 

speedily,  but  is  only  applied  so  as  to  aggravate  his 
torments,   and,  by  their  tediousness,  to  weaken,  if 
possible,  the  firmness  of  his  mind.     Sometimes  the 
signal  for  torture  is  given  by  an  enraged  woman 
who  has  lost  a  husband,  or  a  son   in  the  late  battle, 
rushing  upon  him  with  a  flaming  brand,  gashing  him 
with  a  scalping  knife,  or  striking  him  with  a  club. 
In  an  instant  all  follow  the  example,  shouting,  and 
leaping  round  their  victim  like  infernal  furies.     For 
torture  is  the  sport  of  savage  minds,  and  in  no 
amusements  do  they  feel  their  spirits  more  elated, 
Some  mangle  his  limbs, — others  stick  his  body  full 
of  splinters  of  some  pitchy  wood,  which,  lighted  at 
one  end,  and  burning  slowly  to  the  other  which  is 
inserted  in  his  flesh,  inflict  a  most  exquisite  pain. 
Some  amuse  themselves  by  piercing  beneath  the  nails 
wath  these  splinters,  and  setting  them  on  fire ;  while 
others,  more  furious,  endeavour  to  increase  his  an- 
guish to  the  highest  pitch  of  suffering  by  tearing 
his  sinews  from  his  bones.     Every  one  is  eager  to 
bear  a  part  in  this  scene  of  horror.     The  women,  at 
other  times  surpassing  the  men  in  facility  of  nature, 
and  kindness  to  the  unfortunate,  are  often  foremost 
in  these  cruel  and  vengeful  sports.     And  even  the 
children  are  here  trained  like  hounds  to  the  scent  of 


383 

human  blood,  and  are  taught  to  steel  their  hearts 
asrainst  commiseration. 

Such  is  the  force  of  education,  and  of  habit  unit- 
ed \vith  the  elevation  of  mind  produced  by  martial 
pride,    that  a  distinguished  warrior  never  shrinks 
from  the  severity  of  these  torments,  or  suffers  him- 
self to   express   the   smallest   complaint.     On  the 
other  hand,  he  glories  in  sustaining  them  with  a 
high,  unbroken  spirit,  and  making  his  enemies  sensi- 
ble of  the  impotence  of  their  rage.     He  continues 
his  death  song,  and  now  and  then  interrupts  it  only 
to  insult  them.     He  calls  them  women  ;  tells  them 
they  are  unacquainted  with  the  arts  of  torture  which 
he  has  often  practised  on  tlieir  friends,  and  boasts 
that  they  are  unable  to  subdue  the  firmness  of  a 
warrior  of  his  nation.     He  irritates  them  by  recount- 
ing the  numbers  of  their  countrymen  he  has  slain ; 
and,  by  every  species  of  provocation,  endeavours  to 
incite  them  to  some  rash  effort  of  their  fury  which 
will  shorten  his  sufferings.     It  is  only  the  fear  of 
abridging   the  period   of  their   diabolical   revenge 
which  imposes  any  restraint  upon  their  rage.     An 
old  Onondago  chief,  who  was  taken  by  the  Hurons^ 
provoked  in  this  manner,  a  young  warrior  to  give 
him  three   stabs    with  a  knife.     ^'  Thou  shouldst 


384' 

not,"  said  the  old  man  to  him  calmly,  "  thou 
shouldst  not  be  too  furious  ; — ^thou  wilt  spoil  thy  re- 
venge, and  not  have  time  to  learn  to  die  like  a  man." 
Many  such  anecdotes  are  related  of  thtir  last 
moments.  Sometimes  savage  ingenuity  protract* 
these  scenes  of  torture  during  several  days.  But, 
whether  continued  for  a  longer  or  a  shorter  period, 
they  are  equally  incapable  of  wearing  out  the  pa- 
tience, or  subduing  the  haughty  spirit  of  a  noted 
chief.  He  insults  his  persecutors — he  sings  his 
mournful  song,  till  nature  being  at  length  entirely 
exhausted,  he  sinks  down  without  a  groan,  appa- 
rently more  satisfied  at  having  braved  his  enemies, 
than  afflicted  at  the  loss  of  life.  Their  revenge  and 
hatred  prompt  them  to  make  him  express  some  com- 
plaint, if  possible,  under  the  anguish  of  his  suffer- 
ings. He  places  his  honor  in  being  superior  to 
them.  They  strive  to  subdue  his  pride,  he  derives 
a  pleasure  from  making  them  feci  his  contempt. 
Their  vengeance  would  enjoy  a  triumph  if  they 
could  reduce  a  warrior  of  a  rival  nation  to  utter  a 
groan,  he  glories  in  shewing  them  that  a  warrior  of 
liis  nation  can  never  be  subdued  by  pain. — Some- 
times it  happens  that  a  prisoner  of  the  lower  class  is 
overcome  by  the  extremity  of  his  sufferings,  and 


385 

trembles  at  death  surrounded  by  so  many  terrors. 
This  never  raises  the  compassion,  but  always  the 
contempt  of  these  hardy  savages  ;  and  some  haughty- 
and  furious  chief  dispatches  him  at  a  blow,  as  un-' 
worthy  of  being  treated  like  a  man. 

From  the  preceeding  details  of  the  military  cha- 
racter and  habits  of  the  American  sja at'-e  several  im* 
portant  enquiries  arise  the  solution  of  which  will  tend 
to  throw  light  on  the  philosophy  and  human  nature, 
and  particularly  to  obviate  those  objections  which 
have  been  made  by  some  respectable  writers  to  the 
identity  of  species  in  them,  and  in  the  polished  Eu- 
ropeans.— 1.  To  what  principle  are  we  to  ascribe 
that  concealed  mode  of  fighting,  and  those  approaches 
made  by  stealth  to  the  object  of  their  attack  which, 
from  their  opposition  to  the  customs  of  all  civilized 
nations,  and  the  manner  in  which  true  bravery  is 
expressed  among  them,  has  produced  against  the 
American  the  charge  of  extreme  and  unmanly  pusil- 
lanimity ?  Is  this  an  indication  of  a  total  destitu- 
tion of  courage  ?  or  is  it  only  a  different  mode  of 
exerting  a  principle  which  conspicuously  belongs  to 
human  nature  in  every  region  of  the  globe  ?— 2.  How 

z  z 


386 

shall  we  reconcile  the  facility  with  which  adoptions 
are  often  made  and  received  among  their  prisoners 
of  war,  with  the  ferocity  of  their  passions,  and  the 
exterminating  spirit  of  their  hostilities  ?  Are  their 
moral  and  domestic  affections  entirely  different  from 
those  of  all  civilized  people  ?  Or,  are  these  ap- 
parent contradictions  in  their  character  to  be  ex- 
plained only  on  the  supposition  of  a  radical  dif- 
ference of  nature  ?— 3.  In  what  way  shall  we  ac- 
count for  that  atrocious  barbarity  in  torture  which 
seems  to  have  not  one  sentiment  of  compassion  ming- 
led with  it  in  the  breasts  of  a  people  who,  on  other 
occasions,  are  not  devoid  of  the  feelings  of  humani- 
ty ? — 4.  Finally,  what  name  shall  we  give  to  that 
astonishing  tolerance  of  i>ain  with  which  they  en- 
dure the  most  cruel  tortures  ?  Is  it  magnanimity  ? 
Or  is  it  defect  of  natural  sensibility  ? 

The  various  and  variable  character  of  man  will 
ever  be,  in  a  great  measure,  formed  by  the  situa- 
tion and  circumstances  in  which  he  is  placed :  and 
the  same  original  principles  are  capable  of  being 
moulded,  by  these  circumstances,  into  an  infinite 
diversity  of  forms.  Apply  this  reflection  to  the 
military  habits  of  our  American  indians,  and  so  far 
wiii  they  be  found  from  indicating  that  natural  cow- 


887 

ardice  and  pusillanimity  which  has  been  erroneously 
imputed  to  them,  that  they  will  appear  to  be  the  al- 
most necessary  result  of  the  nature  of  their  country, 
of  tlieir  political  state,  and  their  total  want  of  im- 
provement in  the  arts. — The  d(  fences  and  stratagems 
of  war  in  civilized  nations  are  always  relative  to  the 
progress  and  improvement  of  society  and  the  arts 
among  them,  and  to  the  nature  and  position  of  their 
jespective  countries.  The  bravest  armies  cover 
themselves  by  fortifications,  and  take  advantage  of 
high  grounds,  of  ravines,  of  villages,  or  thickets  for 
tlieir  defence ;  a  Roman  fought  from  behind  his 
shield,  and  all  employ  numerous  stratagems  in 
war  for  the  purpose  of  concealment,  or  deception. 
Is  it  more  dishonorable  in  a  savage  to  employ,  in 
his  marches  and  attacks,  the  cunning  which  nature 
has  given  him,  and,  in  battle,  the  simple  defences 
which  nature  affords  him  ?  Savages  have  not  either 
the  means  or  the  skill  to  construct  fortifications,  or 
to  estabhsh  magazines  of  provisions  for  the  purposes 
of  conquests,  or  to  facilitate  the  march  of  armies.  In 
a  country,  therefore,  overgrown  with  forests  they  are 
necessarily  obliged  to  prosecute  their  wars  in  small 
parties,  both  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  provi  ion 
jon  their  route,  and  for  more  effectually  concealing 


^88 

their  numbers,  and  the  object  of  their  expedition; 
Advancing  in  this  manner  into  the  territories  of  an 
enemy,  a  mode  of  warfare  which  the  nature  of  their 
country,  and  their  imperfect  progress  in  society  and 
the  arts,  con  (pels  them  to  adopt,  they  are  exposed 
to  certain  destruction  unless  they  can  cover  their 
movements  with  perfect  secrecy.  Shall  we  then, 
with  so  many  European  writers,  impeach  their 
courage  because  they  conceal  their  motions  with 
s  I ch  address  and  care,  or  because,  when  engaged 
in  action,  they  fight  from  behind  trees,  or  other 
object?^  of  protection  ?  They  gave  a  dreadful  refu- 
tation of  this  error  when  a  few  hundreds  of  these  un- 
tutored and  despised  savages  entirely  routed  a  British 
army,  conducted,  in  all  the  pride  of  military  discip- 
line, by  one  of  the  bravest  of  the  Britsh  generals.* 
Nv),  these  are  only  the  first  rude  arts  of  attack  and 
defence  pointed  out  by  nature  to  the  uncultivated 
genius  of  the  savage.  If  these  arts  are  carried  to 
greater  perfection  by  the  improvement  of  civilized 
nations,  the  principle  on  which  they  are  employed, 
by  the  one  and  by  the  other  is  the  same.  It  would 
not  be  courai^e  but  madness  in  them  to  abandon  their 

*  Genera,!  Bradclock= 


589 

Natural  defences,  and  with  Quixotic  errantry  to 
challenge  their  enemies  to  combat  in  the  open  plain, 
where  both  must  be  uselessly  destroyed  for  a  point  of 
honor  which  a  savage  could  never  comprehend. 
Considering  the  smallness  of  their  population,  and 
the  value  of  the  life  of  each  warrior  to  the  nation,  it 
is  as  much  the  glory  of  a  chief,  by  a  skilful  conduct, 
to  save  his  troops,  as  to  conquer  his  enemies. 

The  next  enquiry  is,  perhaps,  more  difficult  to 
be  resolved,  and  seems  to  furnish  a  more  striking 
contradiction  to  the  principles  of  human  nature  as 
they  appear  among  civilized  nations.  To  what  mo- 
tive are  we  to  ascribe  the  facility  with  which  adop- 
tions are  made  and  accepted  among  these  ferocious 
people,  immediately  after  being  engaged  in  acts  of 
the  most  inveterate  hostility  ?  How  shall  we  reconcile 
these  effusions  of  kindness  with  the  atrocity  of  their 
other  passions  and  the  scenes  of  extreme  barbarity 
acted  on  the  countrymen  and  fellow  prisoners  of 
the  adopted  ? 

Some  writers  have  supposed  that  the  necessity  of 
saving  from  utter  extinction  their  small  tribes  wast- 
ed by  continual  wars,  has  given  rise,  from  political 
motives  to  these  adoptions,  and  that  custom  has 
now  confirmed  the  practice.    But  tliis  is  a  plan  of 


390 

conduct  much  too  cool  and  artificial  for  men  in  that 
imperfect  state  of  society.  It  is  making  savages) 
who  feel  the  ties  of  society  very  feebly,  and  the  im^ 
pulses  of  passion  in  their  utmost  force,  act  more  as 
citizens  than  as  men.  Besides,  they  are  the  women 
chiefly  who  enjoy  the  privilege  of  protecting  prison- 
ers by  adoption ;  and  to  ascribe  to  them  such  mo- 
tives would  be  to  make  policy  prevail  over  nature  in 
iheir  hearts.  We  might  rather  arrange  nature 
against  nature,  and  suppose  that  the  softness  of  that 
sex,  more  prone  to  compassion  than  men,  only 
yielded  to  the  natural  impulses  of  kindness  in  their 
own  breasts  when  they  rescued  an  unhappy  victim 
from  torture.  But  another  fact  equally  characteristic 
©f  the  sex  seems  to  stand  in  opposition  to  this. 
Their  weakness  inclines  them  more  to  cruelty  than 
men,  and  even  the  sensibility  of  their  hearts,  and 
the  irritability  of  tlieir  feelings  render  them  much 
more  bitter  and  atrocious  in  their  revenge.  For 
this  reason,  the  warriors  frequently  resign  a  pris- 
oner, who  has  been  destined  to  the  flames,  to  some 
woman  who  has  lost  a  husband,  or  a  son  in  the  late 
actions,  that  she  may  appease  her  grief  by  venting 
upon  him  all  the  vengeance  of  her  heart.  She  leads 
tije  way,  she  sets  the  example,  slie  incites  the  ac- 


391 

tors  in  all  the  torments  he  is  made  to  suffer.  Her 
mge  makes  her  ingenious  in  inventing  new  modes 
of  torture. 

^  It  is  true  that  women,  in  different  situations,  are 
equally  prone  to  kindness  and  to  cruelty.  And  from 
the  influence  of  these  principles  we  derive  in  part  at 
least,  the  causes  of  two  moral  phenomena  so  con- 
tradictory, and  apparently  so  irreconcileable.  Those 
whose  hearts  are  sore  from  the  recent  loss  of  their 
friends,  irritated  almost  to  madness,  set  no  bound& 
to  their  fury»  Those,  on  the  other  hand,  in  whose 
breasts  the  edge  of  grief  has  been  blunted  by  time, 
and  the  first  transports  of  revenge  have  subsided, 
regaining  the  softness  natural  to  the  sex,  more  easi- 
fy  admit  the  returning  sentiments  of  humanity. 
.But  there  are  other  motives  which  govern  them 
ki  this  extraordinary  act.  A  woman  who  has  lost  a 
husband,  in  that  rude  condition  of  society  where  no 
artificial  ties  exist  to  attach  her  forever  to  his  me- 
Haory,  and  no  delicacies  of  sentiment  and  of  mannere, 
created  by  the  state  of  the  public  morals,  check  her 
desires  of  a  new  connexion,  finds,  at  length,  the  emo- 
tions of  grief  subside,  and  give  way  to  the  demands 
ftf  nature. 


392 

This  transition  is  greatly  aided  by  the  peculiarly 
hard  condition  of  women,  and  of  aged  men  in  the 
savage  state,  when  bereft  of  their  husbands,  or  their 
sons,  who  might  supply  their  most  urgent  wants  by 
furnishing  them  with  game.  They  cannot,  as  in 
civilized  society,  exchange  the  products  of  their  in- 
dustry for  the  means  of  subsistence.  And  the  indo- 
lence of  the  savage,  hardly  providing  for  himself, 
during  a  great  portion  of  the  year,  the  necessaries  of 
life,  has  no  stores  whence  even  charity  could  supply 
the  wants  of  others.  Wretched,  then,  is  the  condi- 
tion of  those  widowed  females,  or  unfortunate  old 
men  who  have  no  vigorous  and  active  huntsmen  on 
whom  they  can  depend  for  a  sustenance  which  can 
be  drawn  only  from  the  chace.  To  these  hardships 
we  may  add  that  their  tribes,  wasted  by  continual 
w^ars,  scarcely  afford  husbands  to  their  young  wo- 
men ;  their  widows,  therefore^  and  older  women, 
must  often  be  left  through  necessity  to  seek  a  hus- ' 
band  or  a  son  from  among  the  number  of  captives, 
who  have  been  taken  in  war.  The  inclination,  like- 
wise, to  renew  a  connexion  in  which  they  have  been 
more  happy,  may  frequently  prompt  their  younger 
widows,  who,  in  that  state  of  society,  are  little  re- 


393 

strained  by  sentiments  of  delicacy,  to  solicit  an  alli- 
ance among  the  prisoners  which  they  cannot  find 
among  their  own  countrymen.* 

On  the  other  hand,  aged  women,  or  aged  men, 
who  have  lost  a  son  that  promised  to  be  the  stay  of 
their  declining  years,  not  only  require  one  who  will 
supply  them  with  provision,  but  one  who  will  in- 
corporate himself  with  their  family  by  the  closest 
ties  of  relationship.  Savages  as  they  are,  they  have 
the  feelings  of  human  nature.  And  as  families,  in 
that  state  of  society,  are  usually  small  and  it  fre>- 
quently  happens  that  the  loss  of  one  son  is  the  loss 
of  their  all,  they  need  an  object  to  fill  the  vacancy 
in  their  hearts,  upon  which  their  affections  may,  in 
some  degree,  repose.  It  is  especially  necessary  in 
very  advanced  age,  the  imbecility  of  which  requires 
more  than  ever  such  a  consolation  and  support. 
Not  being  able  always  to  find  it  home  amidst  a 
wasted  population,  they  are  willing  to  take  it  even 


*  Nor  is  this  so  indelicate  and  abhorrent  from  nature  iii 
Uiese  savages,  as  it  is  in  some  modern  queens  and  princesses 
to  elevate  common  soldiers  from  their  guards  to  be  their  para- 
mours and  ministers  of  state.  The  chief  difference  between 
them  is,  that  the  latter,  by  their  rank,  have  raised  themselves 
above  the  laws  of  delicacy,  the  former  have  never  understood 
them. 

5^ 


394 

from  enemies  whom  the  fortune  of  war  has  thrown 
mto  a  situation  to  become  useful  to  them,  and  even, 
as  we  shall  presently  see,  to  become  friends.  Such 
unions  are  formed  with  much  greater  facility  be- 
tween different  savage  tribes  than  among  nations 
who  have  made  greater  advances  in  civilization. 
Between  the  latter  so  many  differences  exist  in  char- 
acter, in  manners,  and  language,  that  they  often 
become  fruitful  sources  of  mutual  prejudices,  and 
deep  rooted  antipathies.  But  among  the  neighbour- 
ing tribes  of  American  savages  there  exists  such 
similarity  of  habits,  of  aspect,  of  manners,  and  even 
of  language,  as  greatly  facilitates  the  mutual  transfer 
of  duties,  first,  and  afterwards  of  affections.  The 
adopted  are  immediately  acknowleged  by  the  whole 
nation  as  countrymen  and  brothers.  For  personal 
independence  among  them  is  so  complete,  and  indi- 
vidual and  national  rights  so  equal  and  perfect, 
that  the  community  never  thinks  of  questioning 
what  any  member  has  done,  but  the  act  of  one  is 
recognized  by  all. 

Not  less  difficult  to  be  understood  by  a  civilized 
people  than  the  act  of  adoption  is  the  acquiescence  of 
the  prisoner.  How  does  he  reconcile  himself  to  a 
situation,  and  to  connexions  so  novel  ?     Why  dogs 


395 

he  never  attempt  t6  escape  from  the  midst  of  stran- 
gers, and  return  to  his  native  tribe  ?  How  can  he 
so  easily  rehnquish  old,  and  enter  with  cordiality  into 
new  relations  ?  To  explain  this  phenomenon  so  ex- 
traordinary hi  itself,  and  so  widely  different  from 
what  is  ever  seen  to  take  place  among  people  of  cul- 
tivated manners,  it  is  necessary  to  recur  to  those 
national  habits  and  ideas  which  prevail  among  the 
American  savages,  and  have  origin  their  chiefly  in 
their  state  of  society,  and  the  nature  of  the  country. 
Possessing  none  of  the  agricultural  or  liberal  arts, 
and  under  the  necessity,  in  consequence,  of  draw- 
ing their  subsistence  chiefly  from  the  forest ;  ex- 
posed, besides,  to  perpetual  hostilities,  and  liable,  if 
they  should  be  taken  captive,  to  sufier  the  most  atro- 
cious barbarities  from  the  fierce  passions  of  men 
who  have  never  been  softened  by  culture,  the  whole 
education  of  our  native  Indian  consists  in  being 
trained  to  hunt  with  dexterity, — to  make  war  with 
courage  and  address  ; — and  to  endure  pain  with  un- 
conquerable patience.  The  first  point  of  honor  in 
an  indian  hero  is  to  kill  his  enemy,  but,  if  he  is 
taken  prisoner,  the  next,  and  perhaps  not  less  es- 
teemed, is  suflfering  the  extremities  of  torture  without 
slirinking,  or  seeming  to  feel  them.     As  this  is  so 


S96 

high  a  proof  of  genuine  heroism,  and  so  essentially 
belongs  to  the  honor  of  a  warrior,  a  great  chief  is 
always  prepared  to  give  that  testimony  of  devotion 
to  his  nation  :  he  would  refuse  adoption  as  a  dishoif- 
curable  condition.  By  a  national  sentiment,  there- 
fore, or  a  kind  of  unwritten  public  law,  all  prison- 
ers are  held  to  be  dead  by  these  savages,  because 
they  ought  to  die.  Those  who  accept  of  life  among 
another  tribe  are  hated  and  despised  by  their  coun- 
trymen. It  is  a  violation  of  their  allegiance,  which 
is  a  natural  claim  that  every  national  community 
seems  to  possess  and  assert  over  all  its  members. 
They  dishonour  their  tribes,  and  would  most  proba- 
bly be  put  to  death  as  enemies,  if  they  should  at. 
tempt  to  return.  The  adopted,  on  the  other  hand, 
are,  on  account  of  their  utility,  caressed  and  com- 
forted by  their  recent  connexions  ;  they  receive  the 
mark  of  their  new  nation  imprinted  on  their  skin 
which  is  a  barrier  of  eternal  separation  from  their 
former  friends.*  Their  inducements,  therefore, 
are  much  stronger  to  remain  \n  the  society  of  their 


*  Each  nation  has  some  peculiar  symbolic  character,  as  each 
chief  has  some  personal  distinction  impressed  upon  the  person. 
It  is  inserted  by  punctures,  in  the  substance  of  the  skin,  and  in- 
dellibly  stained  by  the  discolouring  juice  of  certidn  vegetable?. 


397 

reconciled  conquerors,  than  to  return  to  the  con- 
tempt and  hatred  of  their  alienated  countrymen. 

There  are  many  circumstances  besides  whicb 
tender  the  relinquishing  of  his  native  region  a  much 
less  sacrifice  to  the  savage,  than  to  the  citizen. 
The  latter  is  attached  to  his  country  by  property, 
by  artifical  wants  which-  render  that  property  neces- 
sary to  his  comfortable  subsistence,  by  habits  which 
attach  him  to  the  manners  and  customs  of  his  own 
people,  by  fixed  residence  which  connects  his  hap- 
piness intimately  with  the  scenes  wherewith  he  has 
been  long  conversant,  and  even  the  spot  of  earth 
which  has  been  identified  in  his  imagination  with 
all  his  early  pleasures,  by  a  long  dependence  upon 
parents,  and  by  a  thousand  nameless  ties  and  charms 
of  society.  Whereas  a  savage  can  hardly  be  said 
to  have  a  country.  Accustomed  to  roam  over  hun- 
dreds of  leagues  in  quf  st  of  prey,  he  is  exclusively 
connected  with  no  region,  he  is  attached  to  no  spot. 
Even  whole  tribes  rising  at  once  from  their  habitations 
and  carrying  with  them  the  bones  of  their  fathers, 
will  often  seek  new  forests,  and  new  skies,  for  the 
Convenience  of  hunting.  Every  place  is  the  country 
of  a  savage  where  he  can  find  game.  His  bow  is 
his  property.     He  has  no  wants  which  this  cannot 


398 

supply.  Society  can  have  few  attractions  to  a  savage 
who  is  a  solitary  and  silent  being.  His  patriotism  is 
not  that  fine  and  complicated  sentiment  which  makes 
the  name  of  country  so  dear  to  the  citizen  of  a  pol» 
ished  nation ;  it  resembles  more  the  tie  which  binds 
robbers  together,  and  which  is  dissolved,  when  the 
gang  is  broken.  So  many  circumstances  concur  in 
explaining  the  conduct  of  the  adopted  captive  on  the 
ordinary  principles  of  human  nature ;  so  little  rea- 
son have  we  to  recur  continually,  with  certain  philo- 
sophers to  specific  differences  in  order  to  account  for 
varieties  of  character  among  different  nations  which, 
when  fairly  examined,  are  found  to  be  the  result 
only  of  moral,  or  of  physical  causes. 

The  next  enquiry  was,  to  what  principle  are 
we  to  ascribe  that  atrocious  barbarity  in  torture  exer- 
cised upon  their  prisoners,  which  seems  to  have  not 
one  sentiment  of  humanity  mingled  with  it  in  the 
breast  of  a  people  who,  on  other  occasions,  are  not 
destitute  of  the  emotions  of  kindness  ? 

We  must  look  for  the  origin  of  this,  as  of  most 
of  the  other  distinctive  traits  of  their  moral  character, 
in  their  rude  and  unformed  state  of  society,  which 
tends  to  extinguish  all  the  sympathies  of  human  na- 
ture, when  their  passions  are  inflamed  by  the  rage 


399 

of  war.  Refined  and  polished  nations  correct  the  ex- 
treme violence  of  the  passions  by  the  improvements 
of  reason.  The  education  of  a  savage  is  intended 
not  to  correct,  but  to  give  full  and  unrestrained 
scope  to  them.  It  is  not  surprizing  then  that  their 
vengeful  passions,  which  are  always  among  the 
strongest  impulses  of  uncultivated  minds,  should 
be  extreme  in  their  effects.  Feuds  even  among 
themselves,  are  all  mortal.  They  are  not  constrain- 
ed to  act  with  moderation  through  any  apprehension 
of  the  power  or  control  of  laws — their  only  law  is 
their  own  will ;  and  this  is  often  dictated  by  their 
revenge,  and  is  always  ready  to  be  defended  by 
their  courage.  But  against  their  public  enemies^ 
rage,  which  is  the  predominant  passion  in  the 
breast  of  a  savage,  acts  with  ungovernable  and  ex- 
terminating fury.  In  war  their  object  is  not  con- 
quest but  destruction.  And,  as  every  warrior  ex- 
pects, if  he  should  fall  into  the  power  of  his  en- 
emies, to  be  put  to  death  by  the  most  cruel  tor* 
tures,  he  is  prepared,  by  anticipation,  to  retaliate 
this  mortal  injury  upon  his  unfortunate  captives. 
Great  and  polished  nations  fight  to  augment  their 
power :  they  conquer,  therefore,  to  preserve.  Their 
armies  combat  for  glory,  not  for  revenge :  their  opera 


400 

tions,  consequently,  guided   by  a   cool  policy,  are 
never  actuated  by  those  furious,  and  deadly  passions 
which  inflame  barbarian  soldiers,  and  savage  war- 
riors.     Bearing  but  a  small  proportion  to  the  popula- 
tion of  the  country,   the  nation  is  but  little  affected 
by  the  individual  fate  of  those  who  fall  in  battle* 
And  armies  are  so  constituted,  that  the  loss  of  thou- 
sands of  the  common  soldiery  possesses  but  small  in- 
terest in  the  sympathies  of  that  class  of  society  which 
chiefly  influences  the  public  measures,  and  gives  the 
tone  to  the  public  feeling.     If  a  few  of  better  rank 
are  slain  in  the  field,  their  friends  are  consoled  by 
the  glory  of  their  fall.     But,    among  the  savages  of 
America,  the  same  men  who  fight,  decide  the  fate  of 
the  prisoners,  and  they  do  it  with  the  same  passions 
with  which  they  fought.     They  have  no  reasons  of 
state,  which  induce  nations  to  make  war  without 
passion.     Their  wars  are  the  consequences  of  re- 
cent injuries  keenly  felt.     Their  armies,  although 
small,  bear  a  large  proportion  to  their  entire  popula- 
tion.    Every  warrior   stands   in   some  relation   of 
kindred  to  his  whole  tribe.     And  all  who  are  slain 
in  battle  are  lamented  as  brothers.     No  artificial  sen- 
timents of  glory  serve  to  console  the  survivors  :  and 
they  study  only  to  quench  their  griefs,  and  their  re- 


401 

venge  in  the  blood  of  their  enemies.     In  the  tortures 
they  are  preparing  for  their  miserable  victims,  they 
see  only  the  gratification  of  their  own  vengeance, 
and  the  torments  which  would  have  been  destined 
for  themselves  if  the  chance  of  battle  had  thrown 
them  into  the  hands  of  their  prisoners.     This  re- 
flection serves  to  inflame  their  rage  ;  and  their  mu- 
tual instigations  when  assembled  round  this  horrid 
sacrifice,  to  avenge  their  slaughtered  brothers,  and 
their  own  jneditatcd  injuries,  excite  their  passions 
to  the  wildest  fury.     They  make  a  festival  of  cruel- 
ty.    In  the  midst  of  shouts  and  yells,  and  those  wild 
and  frantic  gestures  by  which  they  express,  at  once, 
their  exultation,  and  their  rage,  every  emotion  of 
humanity  and  sympathy,  if  it  should  happen  to  rise 
in  their  breasts,  is  eflectually  extinguished.     There 
is,  indeed,  a  kind  of  wantonness  in  cruelty  which 
forms  a  part  of  the  character  of  the  American  sav- 
age, that  resembles  the  pleasure  which  badly  edu- 
cated children  are  often  seen  to  take  in  the  writhings 
and  convulsions  of  the  inferior  animals  subjected  to 
their  persecutions  and  torments.     A  savage  is,  in. 
many  respects,  little  more  than  a  grown  child.    But 
in  the  moment  of  victory  and  triumph,  in  their  bar- 
barous  carousals,  and  the  wild  frolic  of  all  their 

3  B 


402 

spirits  and  their  passions,  they  are  still  more  cruel 
and  unreflecting  than  on  other  occasions,  and  derive 
a  more  horrible  diversion  from  the  miseries  of  their 
captives. 

But  sympathy  is  a  sentiment  which  is  scarcely 
understood  by  hardy  and  savage  warriors,  who  nei- 
ther exercise  nor  claim  it.  Exposed  to  continual 
hazards,  and  fatigues,  and  frequently,  to  the  ex- 
tremes of  want  and  suffering,  they  are  accustomed  to 
brave  danger  with  firmness,  and  to  endure  pain 
without  complaining.  Loosely  connected  in  society, 
every  man  depends  upon  himself  in  the  most  haz- 
ardous or  most  unfortunate  conjunctures  of  affairs. 
Equal  to  his  situation,  by  courage  or  by  patience, 
he  makes  no  demand  upon  the  pity  of  others,  and 
does  not  understand  how  they  should  have  any  claim 
upon  him. 

The  rudeness  of  his  condition  imparts  the  same 
coarseness  to  his  mind  as  to  the  fibres  of  his  body. 
The  Goths  estimated  the  injury  done  to  a  woman 
in  the  most  delicate  situations  by  the  largeness  of 
the  w^ound.  The  savages  of  America,  still  more 
rude,  and  conversing  only  with  the  wildest  scenes 
of  nature,  know  nothing  of  those  finer,  feelings  of  the 
litart,  and  that  soft  interchange  of  affections  which 


403 

give  birth  to  the  sentiments  of  compassion  and 
sympath}'.  Our  law  excludes  butchers  from  giving 
a  verdict  in  cases  of  life  and  death,  because,  by  see- 
ing and  inflicting  death  on  other  animals,  they  are 
supposed  not  to  possess  a  sufficient  value  for  the  life 
of  man  to  render  them  mild  and  humane  judges. 
Much  more  will  those  eternal  scenes  of  blood  in 
which  the  savage  is  engaged  either  in  hunting  or  in 
war,  blunt  all  those  finer  sensibilities  of  the  htart  of 
which  unadulterated  nature  would  otherwise  be  sus- 
ceptible, and  which  might  contribute,  in  some 
measure,  to  restrain  the  ferocity  of  their  ven- 
geance. 

Having  laid  open  some  of  the  principal  causes  of 
that  extreme  barbarity  with  which  the  savages  of 
America  treat  their  prisoners  whom  they  have 
doomed  to  death,  it  is  not  less  curious  and  impor- 
tant to  the  philosophy  of  human  nature  to  examine 
into  the  principles  of  that  astonishing  patience  which 
they  exhibit  in  the  midst  of  the  most  excruciating 
sufferings.  Is  it  magnanimity  ?  Or  is  it  want  of 
feeling  ?  Does  it  arise  from  tlie  influence  of  cli- 
mate ?  Or  is  it  the  result  of  ideas  created  by  their 
state  of  society,  and  their  habits  of  life  ?  Or  final- 
ly, must  we  search  for  it,  ^\  ith  Lord  Kaims  and 


404 

other  kindred  philosophers,  in  some  original  and 
specific  difference  of  nature  from  other  men  ? 

Writers  of  no  inconsiderable  eminence  have  as- 
cribed the  tolerance  of  pain  by  the  American  savage 
to  the  humidity  of  the  atmosphere  in  the  new  world, 
recently  redeemed,  as  they  suppose,  from  the  ocean, 
and  abounding  in  marshes.  Hence  they  have  gratu- 
itously inferred  that  the  sensibility  of  the  natives  of 
this  continent  both  corporeal  and  mental,  is  impaired 
by  the  influence  of  their  climate.  But,  do  we  find 
this  reason  verified  by  the  experience  of  other  por- 
tions of  the  globe  ?  Are  the  people  who  happen  to 
be  posited  on  the  borders  of  lakes,  or  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  fens,  less  sensible  to  pain  than  others  ? 
Does  a  Hollander  possess  greater  fortitude  than  a 
German?  Or  is  his  sensibility  to  suifering  less 
keen  ?  If  such  effects  are  produced  by  a  relaxed 
fibre  in  the  American  savage,  and  it  is  found  to  di- 
minish to  such  a  degree,  the  irritability  of  the  sys- 
tem, should  we  not  equally  expect  to  find  him  pa- 
tient of  afironts,  languid  in  his  resentments,  tardy 
in  his  revenge  ? 

The  true  explanation  of  this  phenomenon  we  shall 
probably  discern,  not  in  the  physical  constitution  of 
America,  but  among  those  moral  causes  which  are 


405 

so  often  overlooked  in  the  philosophy  of  human  na- 
ture. 

No  person  who  reflects  deeply  on  the  principles  of 
action  in  man  but  must  easily  be  persuaded  that  ac- 
tive courage  in  encountering,  and  intrepid  firmness 
in  repelling  danger,  or  that  inflexible  patience  and 
fortitude  in  bearing  up  under  calamity  and  suffer- 
ing, are  more  frequently  the  result  of  the  sentiments 
of  the  mind  than  of  the  physical  force  of  the  animal 
constitution.  And  it  depends  on  the  education  of 
men,  and  the  situations  into  which  they  are  throvv^n, 
whether  one  or  other  of  these  characters  be  chiefly 
drawn  forth,  and  called  into  action.  It  was  not 
physical  teperament,  but  education  which  enabled 
the  youth  of  Sparta  to  endure  the  deprivations  which 
were  required  of  them  by  the  discipline  of  Lycurgus, 
or  suffer  without  complaining  the  lacerations  with 
which  they  were  exercised  at  the  shrir.e  of  Diana. 
In  that  country,  at  present,  where  a  sublime  educa- 
tion had  once  rendered  children  more  than  men,  do 
we  not,  by  a  change  of  manners,  see  men  become 
less  than  children?  It  is  sentiment  which  creates 
heroes  in  action  or  in  suffering.  Hatred  and  ven- 
geance against  his  enemies,  and  the  pride  of  defj  ing 
their  rage,  are  sentiments  inculcated  into  the  heart 


406 

of  an  American  savage  from  his  earliest  years. 
From  his  infancy  he  is  taught  that  his  own  glory  as 
a  warrior,  and  a  chief,  and  that  of  the  tribe  to  which 
he  belongs  are  involved  in  the  heroism  with  which 
he  combats,  or,  if  he  is  vanquished  in  battle,  in  the 
magnanimity  with  which  he  suffers.  His  ^^'hole 
soul  is  occupied  with  these  ideas,  and  these  passions. 
Without  doubt  their  patience  under  tortures  must 
be  greatly  assisted  by  their  habits  of  life,  and  the 
constant  hardships  of  their  state.  That  the  power 
of  enduring  pain  with  firmness  may  be  acquired  by 
the  influence  of  education,  and  habit,  we  have  a  prac- 
tical demonstration  in  the  manners  of  the  Lacedemo- 
nians. And  the  stoic  school  has  afforded  a  high  ex- 
ample of  the  force  of  their  philosophy  in  subduing 
the  fear,  and  even  the  sense  of  suffering.  Although 
the  mind  of  the  American  indian  is  not  cultivated 
by  any  philosophic  system,  he  derives  the  same  firm- 
ness and  strength  of  character  from  his  state.  Inur- 
ed from  infancy  to  fatigues,  to  wants,  to  dangers, 
and  conversant  only  with  ideas  of  active,  or  of  suf- 
fering heroism,  he  has  learned  more  in  the  hard 
school  of  necessity  than,  probably,  he  could  ever 
have  acquired  under  the  voluntary  discipline  of 
Zeno  or  Lycurgus. 


407 

The  Spartan  boy,  who  had  taken  a  fox  from  a 
neighbouring  inclosure,  was  enabled,  by  the  force  of 
his  discipline,  to  endure,  without  discovering  his 
pain,  the  animal  gnawing  into  his  vitals  rather  than 
expose  himself  to  the  infamy  of  detection,  and  ex- 
pired without  a  groan.  And  a  savage  warrior  will 
suffer  his  enemies  to  rend  his  sinews,  to  burn  his 
flesh,  to  rip  off  his  nails,  and  to  plunge  the  fiery 
stake  into  his  bowels,  without  giving  them  the  sat- 
isfaction of  being  able  to  extort  from  him  a  com- 
plaint. He  glories  in  conquering  their  perseverance 
by  his  patience.  But  shall  we,  with  the  philosophers 
whom  I  combat,  look  for  the  cause  of  this  astonish- 
ing constancy  in  the  humidity  of  the  climate,  or  in 
some  specific  organization  of  the  corporeal  system, 
and  not  rather  in  the  almost  omnipotent  force  of 
sentiment  ? 

It  was  a  maxim  with  that  philosophic  and  aus- 
tere sect,  who  have  just  been  mentioned,  that 
pain  is  no  evil :  and  certain  it  is,  that  it  derives  its 
chief  power  over  man  from  the  weakness  of  tl\e 
mind.  An  energetic  xvill,  created  by  sublime  sen- 
timents, by  strong  passions,  or  even  induced  by  th,e 
habit  of  conflicting  with  dangers  and  sufferings,  im.- 
parts  to  the   soul  a  strength  which  suspends,  in  a 


408 

great  measure,  the  sensation  of  pain,  and  wholly 
deprives  it  of  those  additional  terrors  with  which  a 
timid  imagination  invests  it. 

Our  savages  understaning  the  hardships  of  their 
own  lot,  and  foreseeing  the  trials  to  M^hich  their  for- 
titude may  probably  be  exposed  by  the  chances  of 
war,  make  it  a  principal  object  of  their  early  disci- 
pline to  inure  their  youth  to  fatigue,  and  sufferings, 
and  deprivations  of  every  kind.     Even  their  amuse- 
ments partake  of  the  same  intention.     Among  all 
nations,  their  customary  diversions  are  relative  to 
their  manners.     In  the  warlike  ages  of  Greece  and 
Rome  the  amusements  of  those  martial  people  con- 
sisted in  leaping,  running,  wrestling,  and  throwing 
the  discus,  or  the  spear,  to  fit  them  for  the  com- 
bat.    After  the  model  of  nature,  likewise,  the  Ame- 
rican indians  have  drawn  their  amusements  from  their 
state,  and  make  diversions  themselves  prepare  them" 
for   suffering.      Besides   shooting   the   arrow,  and 
throwing  the  tomahawk  to  qualify  them  for  the  ac- 
tive operations  of  hunting,  and  of  war,  their  chil- 
dren frame  diverting  subjects  of  contest  with  one  an- 
other, in  trying  Vvho  shall  endure  the  deepest  punc- 
tures, or  the  hardest  blows  without  complaining ;  or 
who  shall  hold  a  burning  brand  in  their  hands  with 


409 

tlie  most  persevering  steadiness,  and  for  the  longest 
time.  Sometimes  tliey  single  out  objects  of  their 
rude  wit  upon  whom  to  try  the  force  of  their  ridi- 
cule, who  are  forever  disgraced  if  they  discover  any 
temper  or  impatience  under  all  the  jests  and  teazings 
of  their  companions.  Thus  do  they  prepare  them- 
selves, by  continual  exertions  of  patience,  even  in 
their  sports,  for  that  last  and  great  trial  of  it,  when 
they  shall  be  called  to  endure  the  most  cruel  tortures 
of  enraged  enemies,  and  to  suffer  from  them  every 
species  of  insult  and  contempt,  often  more  difficult 
to  be  borne  than  tortures. 

Their  religious  ideas  contribute  also,  in  some  de-^ 
gree,  to  sustain  that  amazing  fortitude,  and  patience 
in  enduring  torture  which  is  one  of  the  principal  dis* 
tinctions  of  their  race.  It  is  not  my  intention  to  en- 
ter into  any  extensive  delineation  of  their  system  of 
superstition  :  but  only  to  suggest  a  single  reflection 
as  it  is  relative  to  tlneir  extraordinary  fortitude  in 
death. — Virtue,  in  their  esteem,  consists  entirely 
in  those  elevated  and  enterprizing  qualities  which  are 
associated  widi  the  idea  of  heroism.  An  expiring 
warrior,  therefore,  is  never  affected  with  those  fears 
of  futurity  which,  to  the  disciples  of  a  purer  religion, 

3.e 


410 

when  they  are  not  assured  of  their  own  interest  in  its 
hopes,  often  render  the  consequences  of  death  more 
terrible  to  them  than  the  pains  of  dying.  His  heaven 
is  accommodated  to  the  rudeness  of  his  ideas.  It 
lies  in  a  mild,  serene,  and  bounteous  sky  far  to  the 
South,  where  he  shall  forever  enjoy  the  pleasures  of 
a  successful  chace.  Such  sensible  images  are  fitted 
to  take  the  strongest  hold  upon  uncultivated  minds. 
And  Mahomet  understood  human  nature  well  when 
he  proposed  such  rewards  to  soldiers  who  were  nei» 
ther  philosophers,  nor  saints,  but  whom  he  intended  to 
make  the  conquerors  of  the  world.  I  am  aware  that 
spiritual  ideas  are  more  powerful  than  all  others,  when 
once  they  have  taken  full  possession  of  the  soul. 
But  the  frailty  of  human  nature,  or  perhaps,  its  de- 
generacy, which  is  only  calling  frailty  by  its  cause, 
makes  a  sensible  religion,  and  a  sensible  heaven,  the 
religion  and  heaven  of  gross  minds.  And,  Avhen  we 
see  a  whole  nation  suffer  with  such  surprizing  con- 
stancy we  must  seek  for  the  reasons  of  it  in  such 
principles  as  will  apply  to  the  mass  of  mankind. — 
From  the  combination  of  so  many  causes,  the  savage 
tribes  of  America  afford  the  most  distinguished  ex- 
amples of  a  heroic  patience  in  torture  that  the  his- 
tory of  nations  has  ever  recorded. 


411 

Upon  the  whole,  it  results  again  from  the  preceed- 
ing  details  of  the  military  history  of  the  aboriginal 
tribes  of  North- America,  and  especially,  of  their 
uncommon  power  of  supporting  pain,  that  their 
mental  as  well  as  corporeal  qualities  may  be  all  ac- 
counted for  by  natural  causes,  and,  on  the  common 
principles  of  human  nature ;  and  that  it  is  superflu- 
ous and  unphilosophical  to  attempt  to  search  for  the 
diversity  of  their  moral,  more  than  of  their  physical 
character  from  the  more  cultivated  Europeans,  or 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  in  any  specific  difr 
ference  of  nature  or  organization. 


FINIS. 


'W^^^i&4 


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